When The Call Hits Home

WTCHH - Episode 3

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Ashlee [00:00:04]:

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to when the call hits home. My name is Ashley Gethner. I'm a licensed clinical social worker.

Jennifer [00:00:10]:

I'm Jennifer Woosley, a licensed professional clinical counselor, and welcome. Yeah.

Ashlee [00:00:15]:

We are excited. So we have some exciting news today. It is our first guest interview. So we have Josh with us, and we're gonna kinda hand it over to him to just introduce himself for us a little bit before we dive into our questions and really get to know him.

Josh [00:00:30]:

Hi. My name is Josh Homuth. I am a son of paramedic firefighter ex paramedic firefighter. He's retired. And I also was a navy veteran too. So

Jennifer [00:00:45]:

Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing that, and thank you for your service.

Ashlee [00:00:50]:

Yeah.

Jennifer [00:00:51]:

So our first question we just wanted to get started and ask is what was it like growing up with a firefighter as a parent? So what was that experience like for you, Josh?

Josh [00:01:00]:

I I loved having a firefighter as a parent. I thought it was cool. I really looked up to him. He he was like a hero kinda. I always wanted to be around the firehouse, the fire trucks. Yeah. It's it's it was an experience for sure.

Jennifer [00:01:19]:

Oh, that's wonderful. Wonderful. So wonderful.

Josh [00:01:22]:

It was a family atmosphere very much.

Jennifer [00:01:25]:

Okay. I like that.

Ashlee [00:01:27]:

So they were welcoming at the firehouse then? They

Josh [00:01:29]:

Oh, for sure.

Ashlee [00:01:30]:

For sure. That is awesome. I love that. And I love that you said that he was your hero. I think, you know, for me, that's definitely something that I always say when I first start talking about my dad. I'm like, well, it's kinda cool. It's kind of my hero lived with me. So Oh, yeah.

Ashlee [00:01:45]:

I love that. How do you think your parents' job or your dad's job in this case influenced your childhood and kind of like your perspective on life now?

Josh [00:01:54]:

So he so my dad, like, he would always stress safety. And growing up, I was always stressing safety and stuff. And I felt I felt more at at a young age, more of a responsible person compared to other childhood friends that I've had in the neighborhood growing up. And I, actually, in fact, one of my best friends, his fire his dad was a cop, and they were good friends. And he he really influenced me to have a good work ethic, organize, try out any skill you can. I I mean, I looked up to him, and I always wanted to kinda follow in his footsteps.

Jennifer [00:02:49]:

That's wonderful. When did you feel like that safety piece? Like, when did you kinda notice? Like, I'm gonna pay attention to, like, smoke detectors or, you know, I'm gonna pay attention, the 4th July lighting fireworks. Yeah.

Josh [00:03:04]:

Well, 4th well, now that you say 4th July, that was a big big safety thing. I mean Oh,

Jennifer [00:03:09]:

of course.

Ashlee [00:03:10]:

Of course.

Josh [00:03:10]:

It was sparklers.

Jennifer [00:03:13]:

You have a smart

Ashlee [00:03:14]:

dad. Yeah.

Josh [00:03:15]:

But but the the funny part like, first time I really noticed it was my mom having candles in the house. Like, she wasn't even she said he's like, I I had so many fires with candles burning, people leaving them burning. And there was a huge red flag. I was like, oh, we can't even have candles. Even today, he's still stickler on that and see

Ashlee [00:03:43]:

if there's

Josh [00:03:43]:

any concern.

Jennifer [00:03:44]:

Especially when you make those kind of calls. Yeah.

Josh [00:03:46]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Jennifer [00:03:47]:

What were some of the positive aspects? You know, I definitely think you've kinda mentioned that some, in terms of some things that your dad taught you and him being such an incredible hero for you. But what were some positive aspects of having a firefighting dad?

Josh [00:04:03]:

Positives, he he would always tell you what to do without telling you what to do.

Jennifer [00:04:10]:

Kinda Okay. Okay.

Josh [00:04:12]:

He he was just it felt like the rules and the safety concerns that he did have helped me in a positive way of being more safety cautious, not a risk factor. Yeah. The like I said before, the good the camaraderie of the firehouse. Mhmm. And, I mean, he had duties. Like, he had to cook. He had to get along with other people, and this is when he started at Elgin because the at hunt in Huntley, he didn't have it was a volunteer basis.

Jennifer [00:04:56]:

Okay.

Josh [00:04:57]:

And we grew started growing up here in the eighties nineties. And then he got full time in Elgin, and that's when it was 24 hours on, 48 hours off. So he had to stay at the firehouse

Ashlee [00:05:10]:

Gotcha.

Josh [00:05:10]:

With people that he didn't really know, and he had to learn to get along with them Mhmm. For the 24 hours in, like, cooking, cleaning, bathrooms, all that sort of thing.

Ashlee [00:05:24]:

Yeah. Yeah. I was gonna say I know that fire does have a really they are really particular. Right? Like, they are very clean. They have to do things in certain ways. Do you feel like that was a positive for you? Like, do you feel like you kind of got some of that from him?

Josh [00:05:38]:

Yeah. I mean, I couldn't leave the house without my bed made Oh, no. Garbages. You know? I didn't have to take it out every day, but, like, when it was full, it's, you know, take it out.

Jennifer [00:05:52]:

Can your dad throw down in the kitchen? Like, can he cook?

Josh [00:05:55]:

Yeah. Well, the you know, at the firehouse state, it was funny because when they grocery shop, you know, they would just be buying all these meats and then they grill out and and sides and stuff. So that, he he could do well. And breakfast too, he was a killer at breakfast. That's another memory that I actually took from him because that's what I my passion was doing the breakfast.

Ashlee [00:06:23]:

Okay. Nice. Oh, I love that. I was giggling a little bit because I'm like, my dad's gonna listen to this and be like, so my daughter did not pick up on those cleaning skills when she was a child.

Josh [00:06:34]:

You know?

Jennifer [00:06:36]:

I was gonna ask of that transition to make your bed in the navy pretty easily.

Josh [00:06:41]:

Yeah. And and that's that's where it was. Because right when I went to the navy, it was the same stuff.

Jennifer [00:06:47]:

You didn't have a huge culture shock?

Josh [00:06:49]:

No. It was you know, right away, I did my laundry. I didn't have to cook, but we did grow out and stuff with my buddies. Yeah. But, like, on the ship, I wasn't a cook, so I didn't cook. But everything else, I pretty much did. Yeah. It's it's Okay.

Josh [00:07:11]:

Strange.

Ashlee [00:07:11]:

What a great point. That was awesome, Jennifer, to that train you know, that was amazing. Such a good point there. Were there any, like, challenges or fears growing up with a firefighter as a parent for you?

Josh [00:07:23]:

Just fears of my dad not coming home or

Ashlee [00:07:27]:

Yeah.

Josh [00:07:28]:

You know, being hurt, being injured, you know, or, god forbid, dead from something. There was a lot of at the time in Elgin, you know, it there was a lot of gang activities Oh. Things like that Okay. That he would see too as a paramedic, and then he would also see the fires going in 10 story buildings.

Jennifer [00:07:57]:

What else over there? And

Ashlee [00:07:59]:

this is a little bit of a challenging question. So if you don't know it, totally okay. Do you remember that first time, like, around what age you were when you first had that, like, anxiety or fear, like, for your dad?

Josh [00:08:10]:

Probably when he's probably about 5th grade. 5th.

Jennifer [00:08:14]:

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's all fair. And that's definitely some different things to respond to. Like you said, a 10 story building or responding to somebody with paramedic needs. You know? Yeah. Yeah.

Josh [00:08:26]:

Yeah. And for challenges, just the unknown, I guess. You know? Mhmm. If he because sometimes he's 24 hours on, but then sometimes some somebody can't show or doesn't show, then then he does the double. And just the unknown of him in you know, when he first started, he was the bottom of the barrel, so he'd have to do nights Yeah. A lot. So we've crossed paths, and the thing that we had in common was basketball.

Ashlee [00:09:00]:

So Okay.

Josh [00:09:01]:

We would find time to do basketball, pick play pickup games, and things like that at a local park over here on Huntley. So

Jennifer [00:09:10]:

Yeah. That's wonderful. That kinda kinda leads us a little bit into our next question. You know, you were saying he has a 24 on, 40 off. And did you kinda you said he was in the volunteer fire department first. Is that when you were younger? Like, have you been alive through all his career? Okay. So it wasn't something like he

Ashlee [00:09:32]:

had been

Jennifer [00:09:32]:

a firefighter and then had you. And So

Josh [00:09:35]:

a little bit of background, he he worked, I don't know, like, 10 years or something for the cable company,

Ashlee [00:09:43]:

and then it switched.

Jennifer [00:09:45]:

So, like, a second career.

Josh [00:09:46]:

Yeah. Wow. So, like, when I was pretty much when they were when I was about 2, that's when he kinda switched careers.

Jennifer [00:09:57]:

So, Josh, you really grew up in the butterhouse then if you're 2 years old. Gotcha.

Josh [00:10:04]:

I I I mean, that's all I knew.

Jennifer [00:10:06]:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, so with that 24 on, 48 off, and then, like you said, people get sick or, you know, don't show up for work, and you gotta pull a double and all those kind of things. How did that impact, like, your schedule and the family's schedule? And and how did you guys work through that or maneuver through that scheduling, like, if he's on nights? And

Josh [00:10:31]:

So dinner would be hard. But but, you know, by that time, it was, like, high school well, middle school to high school, it was our dinners were just sporadic.

Jennifer [00:10:45]:

Okay.

Ashlee [00:10:45]:

There

Josh [00:10:45]:

were times, and we all had sports too. We were all

Jennifer [00:10:49]:

Oh, yeah. Sports family. Playing basketball, that's a full time job in high school too. Mhmm.

Josh [00:10:55]:

So it yeah. It just that's the main part of the or some of the challenges for growing up with a dad in the fire department was the, the dinners and just sometimes not coming home at in time.

Jennifer [00:11:14]:

Right. Like, oh, I think I'll get off at this time, but like you said, if there's a call or something like that Yeah.

Ashlee [00:11:20]:

That shift work is really hard, I think, for a lot of first responders.

Jennifer [00:11:24]:

Yeah. Especially, I think the families are impacted by that quite a bit. But, also, you know, when you start this at 2, it is kinda maybe a little bit of the expectation. Josh, I don't know. Like, did you feel like, oh, man. Where's data? Or was it just like, that's what it is?

Josh [00:11:41]:

Yeah. I was just it is what it is, and he's providing. And the main main part that I just thought about, he's out there saving people and helping people. So

Jennifer [00:11:54]:

Yeah. Absolutely. Pretty selfless perspective at a young age.

Josh [00:11:59]:

And he was fearless, and I forgot to mention that. He was a fearless dad, so he nothing really got to him, and he would just do it and and coach at the same time.

Jennifer [00:12:10]:

Oh, wow. So was he, I mean, you talked about enjoying basketball. Like, was he able to make games and things?

Josh [00:12:19]:

Oh, yeah. He he pretty much wouldn't miss a game. They have these days with they're called Kelly days, which is basically basically like a personal day he can take off. Okay. You get so many a year or so many a fiscal year.

Ashlee [00:12:35]:

Gotcha. That's nice to have.

Jennifer [00:12:37]:

Well, it sounds like you guys really prioritize basketball as a family.

Josh [00:12:42]:

Yeah. Basketball for me and my Okay. Few brothers would well, my other brother didn't really play in high school. Yeah. My littlest brother. But my middle brother, he he played football and basketball.

Ashlee [00:12:58]:

Okay. I think sports are such a great way to bond. So that's awesome that you had that with him and that you know, you you might still do, so that's amazing that you do. That's one thing that I know for myself as well. That was a way for me and my dad to connect. And I think that's just incredible that you, you know, that sports brings really brings people together.

Josh [00:13:16]:

And I think

Ashlee [00:13:17]:

Jennifer and I will talk a little bit later too about how that is such a a part of building resiliency and with your children. And so I really love the sports example. I have to give a shout out to that because I Well Jennifer knows me so well. She knows that's, like, my heart and soul. I'm like, yes. I love sports.

Jennifer [00:13:33]:

I mean, I think if you can make this a Bears podcast, she would, but I appreciate you, like, making this about first responders and kids.

Ashlee [00:13:42]:

Yeah. 1st responders could really do some damage, you guys. Because

Josh [00:13:48]:

the the sports and then I I do that with my own kids too because Wow. And and you build, that's how I kinda build rapport with other people too. Like, because I work at a school, so I talking about sports and my dad or what I went through helps me along with the

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When The Call Hits HomeBy Dr. Ashlee Gethner, DSW, LCSW & Jennifer Woosley, LPCC S