Firefighter
Christopher Mozzillo
Engine 55
(Assigned Ladder 148)
Memorial Service was held
on December 3, 2001
A
Guide to Living Out Loud
Some people live life out loud. Christopher Mozzillo lived life
out louder. How to Stop Your Mom and Sister From Fighting at
the Dinner Table: Take a fork, pretend to ram it in your forehead
and shout, "You're driving me nuts!" Or bang your head against
the wall, whimpering, "Help me, help me!" How to Get Your Girlfriend
out of the Ocean for Lunch: Roll her, soaking wet, up the sand,
laughing as you yell, "Chicken cutlet here!" (Escort her to
the showers, please.) Cook only masterpieces. Ski only black
diamond trails. Drink till someone else passes out first. Be
president of your fraternity at St. John's, a king of the bar
scene at the Jersey Shore, the best at trivia because you have
a photographic memory. Take the firefighter's exam at 18 and
wait impatiently all those years, working as an environmental
scientist, until you are called — finally! — at 25. Be so upbeat
that, at 27, you think you know what the future holds: husband,
father, upstate homeowner, lieutenant, captain, chief. Love
being in the fraternity known as Engine Company 55 in Manhattan's
Little Italy so much that you come home to Staten Island boasting,
"Today the captain let me hold the knob of the hose!" Profile
published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 25, 2001.
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