Honor Guard

The fire service and emergency medical services are big into ceremony.  My husband is a fire chief and I attend a LOT of ceremonies.  They definitely stand on ceremony, just like the policy and the branches of the military.  Funerals are actually beautiful affairs in the fire, police, and emergency medical services; there's nothing like those bagpipes to get the tears flowing.

My friend Lori, you saw her in a photo with me while wearing our caps upon graduation from nursing school last month, lost her aunt a few weeks ago.  Her aunt, Angie, was a nurse and died at 93 years old.  She was, in Lori's words, "ready to go".  Here's her picture:

 

courtesy of Sharp Funeral Home

Apparently, Angie was a member of the St. Anthony Nurses Alumni Association and would participate in honor guard activities at the funerals of others who had graduated from St. Anthony's School of Nursing.  The honor guard goes to these funerals in full white dress with gloves and blue capes, the typical uniform of the 1940's.  Here's photo (not from St. Anthony's, but you get the idea):

courtesy of iowahealth.org

Some of these nurses showed up at Angie's funeral, along with American Legion Auxiliary, to honor her life and service.

Isn't that a great thing?  We should learn from the fire, police, military, and emergency medical services and honor the lives of nurses by standing on ceremony like this.  Nursing is a noble and respectable profession and should be celebrated as such.