How the Burkharts Came to Be…

September 11 was a tragic day for many... I didn't know it then, but the events that occurred on September 11, 2001, changed my life as well.

When the owner of Pelco invited all of the NY police and fire a retreat to Fresno, one of the events planned for them was a bbq at the airport. A buddy of mine whom I used to work with at the Clovis police department called me up and asked me if I wanted to go to the bbq with him. I went and was one of maybe 20 girls (including the servers) surrounded by at least 300 men. With the odds in my favor, I soon had a NY firefighter hanging all over me. The problem was, I didn't want this one hanging all over me and I couldn't get rid of the guy. As the night progressed (translation for "many beers later"), I ended up talking to a group of guys, with my NY firefighter parasite still attached to my shoulder, and managed to mouth the words "help me!" to some tall dude who smiled and laughed at my situation. A couple of minutes later, this guy kindly asked me if I wanted to walk to the bus with him to get his coat. Finally, I could escape this NY idiot, and this guy wasn't bad looking :)

To make a long story short, Bart Burkhart was my knight who saved me from some NY fireman who probably thought he had a full night ahead of him. After a week or so (apparently Bart was following some "man rules of dating" that said he had to wait a certain amount of time before he called me because he didn't want to seem too eager), Bart finally called me and invited me to Station 9 for our first date. I went to the station assured that the guy I had met seemed like a good guy, was pretty good looking, and was tall. So, when I got to the station and the guys said let me go get Bart, and this VERY good looking guy walked in I thought to myself, "Wow!" Then the guy introduced himself as Carl Delap and said Bart would be right in. Although Carl was a tasty lookin treat, Bart was no let down. We have been married for 4 years now and have two awesome kids, Kallen (2) and Michael (7 mo.). And that's how the Burkhart's came to be... (Sorry Nancy, I had to spill the beans about my instant crush on your husband! j/k!)