Firefighter
Douglas Miller
Rescue 5
Memorial Service was held
on Thursday, October 4, 2001.
Putting
Up the Lights
Elizabeth, Rachel and Katie Miller miss their daddy. They miss
sitting on Daddy's lap -- all three -- and watching the movie
"Ghostbusters." They miss Daddy lying in bed to keep them warm.
They miss Daddy hanging them outside of windows by ropes during
the family "fire drills," making small baskets under their hips.
They wonder who will put the lights on the chimney this year.
Their daddy, Douglas C. Miller, 34, was a firefighter in Rescue
Company 5 of Staten Island. He and their mother, Laurie, met
when he was 15, she 16. He visited relatives over the summer
in Mill Rift, Pa., where Laurie grew up. When he returned home
to Long Island, he sent her audio tapes of his voice, telling
her he missed her. "We were young, and we were in love," said
Laurie. They married seven years later. Now in the bedroom,
she hangs a 20-by-15-inch picture of him, in uniform. "I am
trying to be strong for the girls," she said. A local council
member has volunteered to climb their three-story house to put
the lights on the chimney. Profile published in THE NEW YORK
TIMES on November 6, 2001.
Record
On-line