I was born on June 27, 1951; the only son of Floyd & Kathleen Fullington.  Being the baby of the family and having no brothers, but only 3 sisters, I became spoiled rotten in a hurry(well at least I'll admit it). And yes my parents would tell you the same.  What my sisters would say, well we'll not go there.  I attended all my years of school in my hometown, Jackson, Tennessee.  I graduated from high school in 1969 from what was then known as Jackson High School.

Life had been easy and smooth up to this point as I had been raised by some very good parents, who nurtured me and raised me in a Christian home. They taught me all the right things to do and how to become a respectable citizen.  But somehow I thought I knew more than they did.  This was the beginning of a very rough life, that I might add, I chose for myself.  I could go into detail and tell you about all the bad things I did, about how I got into the drug scene and was also a borderline alcoholic.  I could tell you about my first marriage and all of the infidelity of both me and my wife.  I also could tell you how I got a divorce and 3 days later married someone 11 years younger than me.  I really don't guess I have to tell you that this marriage was a flop as well, but yes it was.

There was a real tragedy in this second marriage involving a car wreck where I was a drunken driver and my wife at this time was a passenger.  Oh sure, I was okay.  Isn't the drunk always okay in those situations.  My wife on the other hand was not so lucky.  Her back was broken in 3 places in the lower spine area and at the age of just 17 she would never walk normally again.  As far as I know she is still in a wheelchair to this day.  She eventually left me for another man, saying that i had changed after the accident.  Maybe I had, but believe me it was for the better.  This accident changed my life forever.  It was at this point, at the age of 28, that I realized my parents knew what was best for me.  If only I had listened, I could've have avoided 20 or more arrests that led to me eventually having 2 felony counts on my record.

Then God smiled on me really big and sent me the most wonderful woman that has ever walked the face of the earth.  Her name was Deborah.  I really didn't want to marry again.  I had tried twice and failed miserably.  But there was something special about this Angel of a woman that God was allowing to be a part of my life.  She loved me for who I was inspite of my faults and past. In fact, she really couldn't see my faults at all or at least that was what she told me anyway(her story is different now LOL).  She loved me as no woman had ever loved me, except maybe my mother and that was a different kind of love altoghether.  It was impossible for me to refuse her when she asked me to marry her. LOL, just kidding.  In fact we still laugh today about the fact that there really never was a proposal at all.  We were eating dinner one night at Danver's with our 3 boys, 2 from my first marriage and 1 from her prior marriage, and just started making wedding plans.  Isn't that romantic. LOL.  Well to shorten this story a bit, we were happily married(and still are after 15 years) on Friday, April 13, 1984.  Yep, you got it, Friday the 13th.  You can call it bad luck if you like but it's been the luckiest day of my life.

After 7 years of marriage, I decided to try to fulfill a life long dream of becoming a firefighter.  So I applied with the City of Jackson for this position.  I took the Civil Service test and made the highest score out of over 200 people that were taking it.  At my interview the Chief was commending me on such a good score.  But because of my past and the felony records that I had, I was denied employment.  Again, if only I had listened to my parents. After over 3 years of trying and using political avenues, I was finally granted the opportunity to become one of Jackson's finest.  Oh how I happy I was with my new position.  I considered it to be a great honor to finally be given a chance.  It took me 3 long years to convince the city officials that I was a changed man and that the man who did all the hideous things they found on my background check did not exist any more.

Oh my a happy ending to the story, huh?  Not quite.  You see after only 8 1/2 years of service I was forced to retire.  Not by the city officials, not by the public, not by my family.  No I had made ammends with all these people and they were proud of the job I was doing.  But around the end of 1998 I was beginning to notice something wrong in my right foot.  Didn't seem significant, but strange.  I couldn't walk on my heels because my right foot ankle wouldn't lock in so that I could.  I began a series of neurological testing at the local clinic here.  I was then referred to Vanderbilt Medical Center and from there to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  Still no one could tell me anything definitive.  In June of 1999 I visited the Muscular Dystrophy Clinic in Memphis.  They repeated most of the testing that had already been done.  Then finally there was a diagnosis.  I had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease.  So on December 3, 1999 I officially retired from the Jackson Fire Department.  My situation at this time is still fairly good, although my muscles continue to atrophy or waste away.

I wrote none of this to sadden anyone or to make anyone feel sorry for me.  This is an awful disease.  One of the worst known to man because it doesn't affect your mind and eventually you become a prisoner in your own body, unable to move any muscles at all.  If you want to know more about this disease, email me at fullington@mindspring.com and I will send you some links to some sites that go into detail.  My main reason for sharing this with you is because as of now there is no cure.  Scientists and Doctors are, however, getting very close to some break-throughs in treating this disease.  It is a type of Muscular Dystrophy and the Muscular Dystrophy Association has been most helpful supplying my needs, physically, financially, as well as mentally.

Hat's off to anyone, anywhere that is now or has ever been a part of this great organization.  Anytime you see a fund drive for this organization, you can bet your boots that your money is being well spent.  Think of me when you see the firefighters out on their annual "Fill the Boot" campaign.  All of these proceeds go to MDA.  Thanks for reading this and allowing me to ramble. I do intend to finish my other pages about fire safety and the local fire department here.  My spirits are soaring because I know God is still in control.  God bless each and everyone of you is my prayer.