Spring, 1999. Mary Walsh was awake at 4:30 a.m., too excited to sleep.

She lay in bed and thought of her first 9-to-6 day tour as a detailed Lieutenant at Ladder 115 in Long Island City. She had been a covering Officer for nine long months since her promotion to Lieutenant. Now, she possibly had landed a permanent assignment at Ladder 115 because the regularly assigned Lieutenant had been injured and placed on long-term medical leave.

Mary felt she might have finally gotten her lucky break at a permanent assignment.

She took a mental inventory of her firefighting equipment: helmet, boots, a Nomex fireproof turnout coat and flashlight; also, her changes of clothing and toiletries. Did she forget anything?

Mary decided to get out of bed because her thoughts were racing, and the butterflies in her stomach were on a rampage, though she had placed all she needed in the trunk of her car the night before to ward off these first-day jitters.

Now fully dressed, she went back out to her car in the driveway. The sound of the early birds beginning to chirp gave her a reassuring sense of not being alone. She checked her equipment and returned to her apartment satisfied she had not forgotten anything.

Nine-year-old Toni-Ann, Mary's daughter, shared the two-bedroom apartment with her in Levittown, Long Island, where she had grown up. Levittown, not too far from New York City, was originally one of those first housing developments built by the Levitt Brothers in the late 1940s for returning GIs.

The small, uniform, box-like homes in the suburbs were advertised as the "American Dream" and sold for less than $5,000. Trees lined the curving streets, two to each front yard.

These days, most of the houses had been expanded and modernized over the decades to accommodate middle class families and baby boomers.

She put coffee on and prepared her favorite breakfast -- a toasted English muffin with cream cheese and marmalade. This helped calm the butterflies in her stomach.

Mary already had arranged babysitting for her two upcoming day tours and dropped Toni-Ann off the previous night with her best friend, Sheila.

Sheila, a nurse who worked rotating shifts, also had a daughter Alexandra, the same age as Toni-Ann. The girls were in fourth grade and went to Wisdom Lane Elementary School together.

Sheila and Mary worked out their schedules so they could babysit for each other. If that didn't work out, the girls' grandmothers were eager to fill in and watch their granddaughters when both moms were working.

She took her coffee to the picnic table on the small patio just outside her side door. Daylight was just arriving and she reflected on the nine years since Toni was born.

Mary's daughter was born out of wedlock when she was 19. Toni's father was the same age. Early on, it became evident Toni's dad could not cope with the heavy responsibility of fatherhood. He was out of the picture and Mary was on her own.

One thing Mary knew absolutely was that she loved her little girl and would raise Toni the best she possibly could on her own. She expected it to be tough, but she was determined to do it right. Thankfully, she lived at home with her mother, Pat, which helped things out immensely.

Still pregnant, Mary signed up for a two year Licensed Practical Nurse program offered at the Nassau BOCES technical school nearby. While attending school, Mary ran into her childhood friend, Sheila, in one of her nursing classes. Sheila had just recently given birth to her own daughter, Alexandra, also out of wedlock, and was living at home with her mother.

After Toni-Ann was born and after Mary graduated and passed her LPN test, she began working at a medical center in Hicksville. Sheila, too, became an LPN and started a job at Nassau County Medical Center.

With their renewed friendship and common bonds, Mary and Sheila shared their responsibilities as young, single moms working as nurses. Toni-Ann and Alex developed their own "best friends" relationship.

Within two years, Mary and Sheila decided to strike out on their own. They found apartments near each other and became a solid team, raising the girls and pursuing their careers. Sheila went back to school, became an RN, and was a Nurse Manager at the hospital where she worked. Mary decided to follow her father's footsteps and courageously entered into the New York City Fire Department under her dad's tutelage.

Gene Walsh, a retired Captain in the FDNY, was integral in guiding Mary as she studied hard, did well on the written test and physical, and became one of the small handful of female Firefighters in the City. In six years, securing incremental raises, Mary had become a first-grade Firefighter, which made her eligible to take the Lieutenants test.

During this time, Mary once again studied hard for the exam with her father's help. They would get together several times a month and go over the scheduled subjects. Mary enrolled in Delehanty's school of study for promotional civil service exams. When the Lieutenants test became available, she was ready. Mary knocked it dead and was on the top of the list.

Team Mary and Sheila, with their two Probies, Toni-Ann and Alexandra, had done exceptionally well for themselves.

Anticipating the 30 mile drive to Long Island City, Queens, on a Friday when traffic usually was heavy, Mary left about two hours before her tour was scheduled to begin. As she drove, she thought about her path to becoming first a Firefighter, and now a Lieutenant.

She had experienced the entry of women into the Fire Department in its insipient stages and she was well aware of all the logistical problems having to do with testing politics and the rigorous physicality of the job. As far as she was concerned, though, she was well-qualified mentally and physically, and destined to become a Fireman.

Mary and her dad were always extremely close. As a little girl growing up, she had spent many days and sometimes sleepover nights in the firehouse. A tomboy, Mary had fit in well with all the Firemen. Softball games, picnics and Christmas parties were just a few of the many functions she participated in.

Mary and her favorite Fireman, John Thomasion, had a magic show together and performed for many firehouse Christmas parties. The classic disappearing rabbit was one of their favorite acts and the children loved it.

As a young teen, Mary went to outdoor training drills with her dad's tower-ladder company and learned how to operate its' bucket high above the street. The control handle was very sensitive, much like the joysticks on video games Mary had played so often in neighborhood stores back then.

Fireman Bill Hardy, who took Mary up in the bucket, said she was a natural. It was even suggested that some of the younger Firemen, who were intimidated by the tower ladder controls, practice their fine motor skills by playing video games, too.

On the rides back and forth to the firehouse and her dad's apartment, Mary would question everything about the happenings of that day. And now, her thoughts fast-forwarded to the present, she was a Lieutenant!

She wrenched herself from the fond memories of her dad and the Fire Department and focused on the present. She wanted to be fully alert on the first day of her new assignment.

Approaching the historic firehouse now, which housed her new Ladder Company, Engine Company and the...