Ode to Heroes

"This was something that we had to do," said Ron Echtenacher Jr. about how he came to enter a burning house with his father (and co-fireman) Ron Echtenacher Sr. And it is with them in mind that we turn to this week's object d'eBay, a print of a poem and fire department insignia.

The poem itself, "A Firefighter's Dad," is a bit sappy. It begins, A Firefighter's Dad is in a class of his own/Like the king of a mountain or a king on his throne. And goes on to pronounce love in poetry that the child is unlikely ever to utter in real life. But there is something about fireman. They are childhood heroes we never outgrow, pretty much just like fathers.

** Other than on father's day it is pretty unusual to find an ode to dad in poetry. **