At about 4:30 P.M. on Christmas Eve, I was doing a last load of laundry when my husband called me and asked me to come upstairs right away. There was something about his tone of voice that made me hurry. Upon asking him what he wanted, I was told, "I think I'm having a heart attack. You'd better call 911 right away."

To say I was frightened out of my wits, and just about unable to talk, is an understatement. I immediately phoned 911 and was connected to an unknown man with a warm voice, who was patient and understanding with me as I blubbered incoherently while trying to give intelligent answers to his questions.

I barely had time to remember to phone our son and feed our cat when the emergency Gray Fire and Rescue Ambulance showed up at our house in about 10 minutes.

When I was younger, I worked in hospital emergency rooms, and I've never been as impressed by medical personnel as I was this Christmas Eve by the cheerful, competent, professional manner in which these three volunteers took care of my husband, while also taking time to be understanding of me while I established some composure.

It was on the drive to Maine Medical that I found out it was Matt Carroll who was driving the ambulance, and his son, Joe Carroll, along with Connie Akune, who were the two Fire and Rescue medical technicians in attendance. I also found out that there seem to be members of the Carroll family, too numerous to mention, who have been volunteer rescue workers over the years. All three of these folks could not have been nicer or more patient with us while Matt drove very quickly and carefully to the hospital and Joe and Connie worked with my husband. Their concern and care also continued while we were in the emergency room.

As this Christmas faded away, all I could think about is how lucky we are as a community to have such fine people volunteering their time and expertise to all of us. This was no cold, professional group, just "doing their job, Ma'am", but warm, caring neighbors, putting themselves out, giving up their own holiday time to help others in need. For me, this has been an extremely humbling and wonderful experience.

Don't get me wrong, I don't feel that my husband's experience was wonderful, but he did not have a heart attack, while something else, not nearly as serious, was the problem.

No matter, I'll probably always have the memory of something that could have been fatal but was not, due to the quick response time and awe-inspiring professionalism of these Fire and Rescue folks-from the patient dispatcher to those in the ambulance.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. My family and I have received the best present of all, my husband alive and well.

Diana and Bob Hertz live in Gray, where Bob writes short stories and Diana paints wonderful watercolors. Gray Matters is a forum for all Gray citizens to discuss issues of general interest. Send your submission to The Gray Independent News, P.O. Box 433, Gray, Maine 04039, e-mail it to editor@graynews.maine.com or drop it off at our office or the drop box in Cook's Ace Hardware in Gray Plaza.