A Shining Example Of Friendship

Lymphoma has taken Spokane Valley firefighter Mike Taylor’s strength and his hair, but it hasn’t taken his friends.

More than 20 of his buddies at Spokane Valley Fire District 1 got their hair buzzed off Friday as a symbol of solidarity with the popular Taylor.

Taylor, 42, was diagnosed with cancer in 1993.

The drug and radiation treatments doctors are using to fight the disease recently caused him to lose his hair.

A group of firefighters, led by John Watkins and Don Ellis, decided if Taylor was going to be bald, they would be too.

Recca Verment and Michelle Gallaway of Creative Hair and Nail Design volunteered to do the cutting.

The guys joked and laughed - many of them nervously - as the clippers clipped and the locks fell.

“Oh, boy,” said Pat Larive, who volunteered to go first. “I’m sweating.”

“I feel a little light-headed,” said Buck Haney, as his silver hair cascaded to the floor like snow blown from a tree branch.

“Anybody want a comb?” asked another firefighter, rubbing his newly bald head with one hand and holding up a black comb with the other.

A spirit of camaraderie and caring ran under the banter echoing inside the Station 1 garage.

Firefighter Brian Grable summed up the feelings toward Taylor. “We all love Mike a lot, and we wanted to find a way to show our love in a fun way,” Grable said after losing his hair. “We’re all like family here, and when one of us gets affected by something, we all do.

The haircuts aren’t the only sacrifice Valley firefighters have made for Taylor, who has worked for District 1 for more than 11 years.

For the past four months, many worked double shifts to cover for Taylor, who has used up all of his sick leave.

“A lot of the guys did that without thinking of ever getting that time back,” Larive said. “That way, Mikey could still get paid.”

Taylor said the support has been overwhelming.

“It’s a pretty humbling experience,” he said. “How do you pay somebody back for something like that?”

His wife, Cheryl, agreed.

“I guess when you work together and live together and everything … ” she said, struggling to find the words. “It’s just a heck of a group of people, a heck of a group of people.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo