Scott M. Davidson: Christmas
Boy
Like
many adults who are still children at heart, Scott M.
Davidson loved Christmas. In fact, his friends in Staten
Island called him Christmas Boy.
One year he drove up to Perry Seridge's apartment with
Christmas tree lights strung around his car, all lighted
up. When cautioned that wiring lights to the car battery
could be unsafe, he held up a finger and began rummaging
through the pile of sweaty basketball clothes in his back
seat.
After a few minutes, Firefighter Davidson, 33, a
member of Ladder Company 118 in Brooklyn Heights, found
what he was looking for: a fire extinguisher.
Triumphantly, he proclaimed, "I got it covered."
Firefighter Davidson was also a bartender; the father
of Peter, 8, and Casey, 4; a substitute teacher at
Intermediate School 49 near his home in Brooklyn, and an
unabashed patriot long before the World Trade Center fire
that he died fighting on Sept. 11.
"He loved all things American," Mr. Seridge said. "I
used to think it was kind of rare, really, especially for
a young guy who had never been in a war. Looking at it
now, it was nice. He'd be really happy now that everyone
would have flags out."
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