This episode is my reflection on Edwin, Two for One Dad. The story of Edwin and his wife, Pat, moved me deeply. I hope the excerpt below leads entices you to listen to the whole reflection.

"I’m imagining now a twenty-something Edwin arriving at work at 3 AM on a cold, dark winter morning to tend the invisible fire that warms the school. With a shovel in his hands and flames flickering in his eyes, Edwin’s thinking about the weekend: a much-needed haircut on Saturday so that he’s presentable on Sunday for a first date with Pat, whom he’s been getting to know through late night phone conversations over the past couple months. Although Edwin’s a new fireman, he’s well acquainted with the fires of life: raised by a tough-love single mom in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at a time when gangs, drugs, and violence were a daily reality, Edwin lit a fire in his heart to get out after seeing too many friends’ lives altered or cut short entirely. 

If every stage in Edwin's life can be described by fire - be it the fire of tough circumstances in his youth, the fire of responsibility in early adulthood, or the fire of romance in dating Pat - then for this present moment, the fire in Edwin's life is Pat herself."

Listen to my interview with Edwin from Season 1.