A retirement...of sorts

Your pal Happy has reached a point in his career that many a firefighter and paramedic dreams of.  He has reached retirement.

No, not ME.  Him.  That little cartoon fellow that adorns my avatars, logos, banners and the like.  He was photoshopped long ago when I needed an anonymous face to go with the blog of old.

He has changed a lot since his days as a probie, first appearing in a crude version of a new header at the old blog site.

From there he was tweaked and changed, colored and altered into the image you see now all over the interwebs.  The same image my daughters have grown up with, often at the top of whatever web page daddy is looking at while ignoring them.

He was me for a good long while.  Through times when I didn't, couldn't, let you know who or where I was.  Happy, with his overly expressed smile and shiny lid, went a long way in conveying my emotions when I think about the job I do and the joy and therapy I get from writing these posts.

He has smiled back at me from a lonely screen in the computer room of a busy firehouse, a laptop in the early morning hours after my youngest was born and recently he adorned the business card I gave to the Chief of FDNY EMS.

Happy has always been there for me, and always will be, but I regret to inform you his time has come and gone.

Soon, Happy will retire and go to live with the Angry Captain.  He is not gone, only passing along what he knows to the new guy.

Oh yes, there is a new guy.

You see, long ago I wanted a Happy Medic that reflected who I really was and how I really feel, but never had the means or the reason to do so.  The Happy you all know now came along because of a creative internet search and some even more creative photo shop work.  He was never mine.  He was never me. He was hired because some new forums were starting and I needed a brand, and fast, and he fit the job description.

Keep in mind that the life of an internet mascot is not unlike the years of a dog.  They pass faster than our own and we miss them when they're gone.  Terribly.  I have given this retirement long and hard thought and more than a few pints and know it is for the best.

So raise a glass and toast the retirement of the little cartoon you know as the Happy Medic and wish him well in his retirement.

His last shift is Wednesday March 31st and the new guy will be along shortly thereafter.

Where is the new guy from, you ask?  Oh, if you follow this forum you already know the answer to that.

Take care, Happy.

[caption id="attachment_508" align="aligncenter" width="185" caption="the First Happy Medic 2008-2010"][/caption]