Sean Patrick Tallon ~ We will NEVER forget!!

Note: This was originally posted 9/11/2006....we wanted to repost it. We'll never forget!



When aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center's twin towers, it was New York City's Bravest that did what they did best - head directly in to danger, in order to save lives. Firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs - side by side - as was the case so many times before.

Together with members of that city's Finest, they made their way to the heart of the tragedy. Grabbing their gear, the firefighters began rushing into the gigantic structures to assist with their safe evacuation, while the paramedics and EMTs began tending to the injured below.

It was while doing those jobs - in the kind of rescue that they had performed so well, so many times - that their lives were taken from us. (Taken from here)

Sean Patrick "Charger" Tallon was one of those such men. At 26, he had only a month or so left of being a "probie" (a probationary firefighter). Sean was one of the first responders, along with the other members of Ten House. Their station was right across the street from the World Trade Center. On the way up the stairs of Tower One, Sean helped a fellow firefighter that was having a heart attack, then he continued up with two more of his fellow firemen. They were trapped when Tower One collapsed.
Sean led an active and varied life. He was a Marine Corps Reservist. He also loved Irish music and playing the button accordion. He would practice for an hour or more on many evenings. The steady, easy flow of sweet hornpipes, tasty reels, and lively jigs would fill the house.
This is part of a song that was written for Sean, and was played at his funeral:

"Up the stairs boys, running to the top

Without a thought to slow or stop

Upstairs boys on 9/11 and they kept on going

to the gates of Heaven.

With the men of Ten House was Sean Tallon...

Although he wasn't the first, he wasn't the last...

With love of God and Country he never thought he could

see such acts of hate...

As we remember our Charger and the others

and shed a mournful tear for all his fallen brothers,

Although we didn't know them all,

we knew them well enough to know what they were made of...

And that was hero stuff.

written by Dereen and Marian Griffin

Sean left behind his parents, grandparents, sister and brother-in-law, and extended family in the United States, England, and Ireland, along with many friends. He is greatly missed by all.

May you rest in peace Sean Patrick Tallon. I would like to offer up this blessing:

Traditional Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind always be at your back,

The sun shine warm upon your face,

The rain fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Thank you for all that you and your brothers do and have sacrificed for all of us! You and yours will be in my prayers. ~Rebecca Buchenot Sain

Check out these cool links (not sure if they're still avail):

2,996 Memorial List ~List of ALL the blog memorials!

Ten House Homepage~ They have an AWSOME site!!

Fire Store ~ Cool Stuff!

10 years later ~ We will NEVER forget

Note: This was originally posted 9/11/2006....we wanted to repost it. We'll never forget!



When aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center's twin towers, it was New York City's Bravest that did what they did best - head directly in to danger, in order to save lives. Firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs - side by side - as was the case so many times before.

Together with members of that city's Finest, they made their way to the heart of the tragedy. Grabbing their gear, the firefighters began rushing into the gigantic structures to assist with their safe evacuation, while the paramedics and EMTs began tending to the injured below.

It was while doing those jobs - in the kind of rescue that they had performed so well, so many times - that their lives were taken from us. (Taken from here)

Sean Patrick "Charger" Tallon was one of those such men. At 26, he had only a month or so left of being a "probie" (a probationary firefighter). Sean was one of the first responders, along with the other members of Ten House. Their station was right across the street from the World Trade Center. On the way up the stairs of Tower One, Sean helped a fellow firefighter that was having a heart attack, then he continued up with two more of his fellow firemen. They were trapped when Tower One collapsed.
Sean led an active and varied life. He was a Marine Corps Reservist. He also loved Irish music and playing the button accordion. He would practice for an hour or more on many evenings. The steady, easy flow of sweet hornpipes, tasty reels, and lively jigs would fill the house.
This is part of a song that was written for Sean, and was played at his funeral:

"Up the stairs boys, running to the top

Without a thought to slow or stop

Upstairs boys on 9/11 and they kept on going

to the gates of Heaven.

With the men of Ten House was Sean Tallon...

Although he wasn't the first, he wasn't the last...

With love of God and Country he never thought he could

see such acts of hate...

As we remember our Charger and the others

and shed a mournful tear for all his fallen brothers,

Although we didn't know them all,

we knew them well enough to know what they were made of...

And that was hero stuff.

written by Dereen and Marian Griffin

Sean left behind his parents, grandparents, sister and brother-in-law, and extended family in the United States, England, and Ireland, along with many friends. He is greatly missed by all.

May you rest in peace Sean Patrick Tallon. I would like to offer up this blessing:

Traditional Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind always be at your back,

The sun shine warm upon your face,

The rain fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Thank you for all that you and your brothers do and have sacrificed for all of us! You and yours will be in my prayers. ~Rebecca Buchenot Sain

Check out these cool links (not sure if they're still avail):

2,996 Memorial List ~List of ALL the blog memorials!

Ten House Homepage~ They have an AWSOME site!!

Fire Store ~ Cool Stuff!

6 months!!!!

Wow, how time flies!!!! 6 months ago, I was in labor, excited to meet our little Rachael Elizabeth. A big name for such a little peanut. Her first month saw us moving to Albuquerque. On the way, we stopped in DFW for the weekend. We were able to get Rachael baptized and introduce her to all of her family!! For her second month, we went to the ABQ Balloon Fiesta. Her third month brought Thanksgiving and our family Christmas pictures. Getting ready for Christmas!! Fourth month. Month 5 saw the start of solids! Rachael LOVES her green beans! Today, she has 2 teeth, is sitting unsupported, giggles and laughs, babbles up a storm (can't imagine WHERE she gets that from), rolls, and is still the light of our lives. It amazes me every day just how far she's come in such a short time! As for us, we're STILL in Albuquerque. But....there is light at the end of the tunnel. Allan only has 7 flights left to go. So, we MIGHT be out of here, and on our way to Montana, by mid-March. I can't wait!!! Although, I will be sad to leave Alicia. It's been great living 5 minutes apart!!

Here's a video of Rachael and Daddy laughing!

Rachael "talking"

This is our first attempt at videoing Rachael. Hope you enjoy it!

Long time no post

Well...as most of you know it's been a crazy couple of months for us. Rachael was born Aug 24th. When she was 3 weeks old, we moved to Albuquerque, NM for Allan to finish up flight training. We have a nice furnished apartment here, and some beautiful views. We'll be here until Jan or Feb, then it's up to Montana for us...in the dead of winter!! They've already had snow up there!!?!

Rachael is getting bigger every day. She'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow. Hard to believe. She's starting to smile "real" smiles now and has found her fist/thumb. Whoops...I hear her callilng me now!

37 weeks

Well.....not much new to report here. We got a new-to-us car last week. A 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4. It's very nice, except for the fact that it wouldn't start yesterday when we were leaving the movies!! Fortunatly, it's still under the original warranty. So, it's now in the shop and our rental car is a red Eclipse Spyder Convertible!!

Nothing really to report on the baby front. At my appt yesterday, we were told that "there's nothing going on yet". Oh, well. Maybe next week!


Official Update:
Congratulations! You've got what is officially considered a full-term baby, even with three weeks to go. That doesn't mean he's finished growing — in fact, he's still packing on about a half pound a week (at this age, the average fetus weighs about 6.5 pounds). Right now, your little superstar is busy rehearsing for his big debut, inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid (to get the lungs ready for that first breath), sucking his thumb (to prepare for that first suckle of milk), blinking, and turning from side to side. Meanwhile, your body is going through its own preparations as your practitioner starts looking for signs of labor. On the checklist: the baby's position in relation to your pelvis (engagement) and whether effacement (thinning of the cervix) and dilation (opening of the cervix) have begun. Your practitioner may also determine whether your cervix has begun to soften and move to the front of the vagina, another indication that labor is getting closer. Keep in mind that these processes can occur gradually, over a period of weeks or even a month or more in some women — and overnight in others. So while they're clues that you're indeed progressing, they're far from sure bets when it comes to pinpointing the actual start of labor.


With just three more weeks to go, your baby is doing just fine. You can expect weight gain to be about half an ounce per day. (Boys, though, are likely to be heavier at birth than girls. And here's a bit of boy baby trivia to back that one up: Moms carrying boys tend to eat more than moms carrying girls — a foreshadowing of teenage refrigerator raids to come.) Since your little one is considered full-term at 37 weeks pregnant, if your baby was to leave the wet nest this week, he or she would likely thrive. That's because Mother Nature and you have done such a fine job.

So what's keeping your little one busy while waiting it out until D-day? Practice, practice, practice. Your baby is simulating breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, sucking on his or her thumb, blinking, and pivoting from side to side (one day you feel the tushy on the left side, another day it has swung around to the right side). All these are skills needed for his or her next gig — starring as newborn.

Here's an interesting fact: Your baby's head (which, by the way, is still growing) will, at birth, be the same size circumference as his or her hips, abdomen, and shoulders. And guess what's making an impression (literally) these days on those shoulders and hips: fat — causing little dimples in those cute elbows and knees, shoulders and hip, and creases and folds in the neck and wrists.

Big Sky Country, here we come!!

We're going to be moving to Malmstrom AFB, near Great Falls, MT!!!! I'm happy that we will be living near skiing AND have cooler weather! It will be great flying for Allan.

But...before we move there, we are moving to Albequerque, NM the beginning of Sept. We'll be there until sometime in January. (Great...moving to Montana in the coldest month, based on avg. temps!)

But....before THAT, we have a baby to be born!!! We are officially counting down days (DAYS!!) now! 28 to go as of 8/4. Eeekkk!!

So, onto our formal update:

Your baby's bones may be ready to rock and roll, but yours may be aching something awful right now.
It's a good thing your baby's almost done cooking, since your body may feel pretty "done" by now as well. For one thing, you're doing the full-term pregnancy waddle, the result of hormone-triggered loosening and softening of your connective tissue. This is your body's way of getting ready to squeeze a big baby out of a small space. Unfortunately, those loose joints can lead to some pretty serious hip and pelvic pain — but hang in there! Try to focus on your baby, who is now about six pounds and 20 inches long, with soft bones and cartilage to allow a safer journey through the exit door. Most of her systems (from circulatory to musculoskeletal) are ready for prime time, though her digestion system — which has done only practice runs so far — will kick into gear as she takes her first suckle at the breast or bottle.

Your baby's skull isn't the only soft structure in his or her little body. Most of your baby's bones and cartilage are quite soft as well (they'll harden over the first few years of life) — allowing for an easier journey as your baby squeezes through the birth canal at delivery (and less prodding and poking for Mom along the way). At 36 weeks pregnant, the skull bones are also not fused together yet so that the head can easily (well, relatively easily) maneuver through the birth canal.

So your little bruiser (who you've now learned won't be bruising you all that much with those soft bones) is now about six pounds in weight and measures slightly more than 20 inches in length. Growth will experience a slowdown now, both so your baby will be able to fit the narrow passageway to the outside and also so he or she can store up all the energy needed for delivery.

By now, many of your baby's systems are pretty mature, at least in baby terms — and just about ready for life on the outside. Blood circulation, for instance, has been perfected and your baby's immune system has matured enough to protect him or her from infections outside the womb. Other systems, however, still need a few finishing touches. Once such notable example: digestion — which actually won't be fully mature until sometime after birth. Why's that? Inside his or her little gestational cocoon, your baby has relied on the umbilical cord for nutrition, meaning that the digestive system — though developed — hasn't been operational. So your baby will take the first year or two to bring that system up to speed.