my dad's a firefighter and this memory still gets me every time

So my dad's a firefighter. And there was this one massive fire a while back. It was the middle of winter and he couldn't come home for days, surviving on like one tiny cup of instant noodles while staying at the scene. He and the other firefighters made the best calls they could in that situation, but people who had no idea what was happening started absolutely tearing into them online for not saving everyone. Just relentless.

That's what triggered his depression.

He had bad side effects from the medication too, like he fell down the stairs at some point. And every day he was leaning on alcohol just to get through. Even when he finally managed to fall asleep, he'd wake up again almost immediately, crying, saying he was sorry. Over and over.

We all watched that. Our whole family. And we just... cried together.

I still get sad every time I think about that day.