Sarah and Jose are a married couple in Texas. Jose is an EMT, a firefighter, and a policeman. Texas recently experienced the worst storm in three decades: 4.5 million homes and businesses left without power, and (as of this recording) 70 deaths reported, half of which were in Texas. The sudden demand for heat overloaded the power grid, causing rolling blackouts and leaving people without power amidst freezing temperatures. Sarah and Jose's power was out for five days and you’ll hear the couple discussing the challenges that faced their relationship because of this experience and the stress and fear Sara faces generally because of Jose's work as a first responder.

FROM THE EPISODE:

[JOSE] When have you been the most worried for my safety and why?

[SARAH] Everyday you'd been on shift. You're obviously a firefighter, a paramedic, and a police officer. And, in your department, you respond in all three capacities in whichever you're needed... 135 people had just been in a wreck, a few days prior. And another officer in the next town over had just been killed on the highway while working a wreck. And so I know that you had worked a dozen wrecks at that point, and I was just worried that somebody speeding or not paying attention would plow into you while you're trying to assist another wreck. Or, if you're responding in your medical capacity or providing traffic control — I was terrified, because how many times has your fire apparatus been struck in a year? How many officers are killed on the highway? And so it was terrifying, stressful. So I have been the most worried about you in the last two weeks. But maybe not as much as when you got hurt in the fire…but firefighter wife was worried last year, cop wife was worried the last two weeks... 

Then you're working on a wreck and you're working both as a paramedic and a cop at the same time. And you're trying to go and move your unit and you end up hurting yourself...because reckless people are out there speeding, knowing that the roads are frozen, putting your life in danger and their lives in danger and everybody else's lives in danger. And I get...that phone call of, “Hey, babe, I’m okay but I'm going to the hospital”...I've had this call how many times? 

[JOSE] I think I'm just accident prone, unfortunately. I did tell you everything was fine. Better to get a call from me then one of my chiefs or someone else. I wanna be the one that called you. I figured that would be better than the last time, which was the hospital having to call you and then a follow-up from my fellow officers calling you to keep you posted and let you know that I was okay but you were gonna need to go down there and probably be fairly quick in arriving at the hospital. No, I understand the stress level. 

[SARAH] In therapy, I had talked about…preparing for that phone call and we prepared for that phone call for two years. I still got the phone call and I was still so under-prepared emotionally to get that call and then to physically make the drive to you. I couldn't even think straight. I literally called every police department on my way to you. “I need a police escort.” I'm sure they thought I was crazy. Even thinking about that day… it’s a lot. 

[JOSE] So do you think that regarding this week, with the snow and ice, your anxiety level was higher because you had already experienced that phone call and you didn't want to experience that again? or do you think you're maybe more prepared? “If I get this phone call again, this is what I need to do.” Almost like a checklist.

[SARAH]They’re just so different. They were different because I knew that you were eventually going to be okay last year. This year it was the unknown.

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