Editor's note: Rachel Sheridan-Thompson had been due to marry one of the fallen firefighters, Brandon Thompson, on Oct. 7 last year. Since the tragedy, she uses his surname. She is a member of the Charleston Fire Department Wives Club, a support group set up after the tragedy.

 By Rachel Sheridan-Thompson

Rachel Sheridan-Thompson and Brandon Thompson.

The one-year memorial service has been designed to be more of a celebration of the nine men rather than dwelling on the tragedy. I think that will help all of us a lot. It'll mean we can finally start our grieving properly as everything's been very public this past year.

I think some of us are still wondering when we'll wake up from this bad dream that we are living every day and when the reality of the situation will set in.

Brandon was not actually supposed to be working the day of the fire. He had worked the day before and was working for someone else that day. I saw him for the last time when he was leaving our house on the Sunday morning that was starting his double shift. But I did speak to him on the phone shortly before the fire happened. From that point on things are kind of a blur.

I first saw that a fire had started at the sofa store from a breaking news flash on TV. I was actually about to leave the house to meet a friend when it came on. The news was only reporting the fact there was a fire, there were no other details. Then about 20 minutes later, Brandon's old captain phoned me and asked where Brandon was. At that point, I knew something was horribly wrong.

I told Brandon's previous captain that he'd be at the fire I heard about on TV since Station 10 was the second due company to that store. The captain told me he was going to the fire and would call me when he got there.

Calling everyone
I then started calling everyone I could think of; my parents, his previous captain's wife, anyone and everyone that may be able to help. Eventually I found out that firefighters were missing and Brandon was one of them.

After that my parents showed up at my house and Brandon's mother and sister-in-law came as well. I actually stayed at the house that night, while Brandon's brothers and father went to the scene.

I think it was about 5 o'clock in the morning when Brandon was finally pulled out of the fire, he was the last one they brought out. After that I got my stuff and I went to the scene at 7 or 8 that morning.

I stayed there for a while and talked to the guys. I'd hung out with them at the fire station before so I knew a lot of them, they were his family and all very close.

In the days that followed, there was a lot to do, as anyone who has experienced a death knows. But with it being such a huge, nationwide tragedy, there was even more to do. It was all a bit of a blur. I do remember thinking the entire week that I was supposed to be planning a wedding not a funeral. That was the one continuous thought I had over and over again.

Since then some dates, such as our wedding date and anniversaries, have been very difficult. But the support has been tremendous. Not just from family, friends and the fire department but the support from the community is overwhelming. And it hasn't been just the Charleston area, it's been the entire United States. The support from everyone has been unbelievable.

Through this extreme tragedy I have gained an amazing family.

The fire department and the guys there have been absolutely amazing. They have offered so much help and support to all of us. We had our house on the market before the fire and the guys helped me move stuff and do whatever needed doing when I finally sold it; the things that Brandon would have done.

The support from around the world has been amazing, too. I'm not just talking about donations, I'm talking about cards and e-mails and encouragement from everyone. It's sad that a tragedy has to happen to bring people so close together but that's what happens. We saw it with 9/11 and now we've seen it with this.

At the memorial service, it will be good and important to spend some time with the guys from the fire department. After a while, you get to be so busy again with your work and families and things like that. We don't see as much of each other as we'd like to. Having the opportunity to spend time with the men there is going good for the families.

After all, we are all a large family. Through this extreme tragedy I have gained an amazing family. I have become close to the other eight families and even closer to the men at the fire department. It's been a tough year, and we have a long road ahead of us, but together we can get through this. And only together will we be able to move forward.