And in the matter of a few hours, the weather changed from hot and humid to cool and breezy. It had been predicted for a week, and we waited in anticipation until it happened.

Life can be like that.

For months you plan for a wedding and when the day finally arrives, in less than an hour you transition from a single person to a couple.

Same goes with parenting. You wait nine months for the baby to arrive and then in a relatively short amount of time you become a mother or father.

Like the weather, life can be altered in a matter of hours and in some cases minutes. The thing we have to be prepared for is the change.

Sometimes that can be an easy fix when the weather cools. All you have to do is pull out a sweater or jacket and you are ready.

In life, being prepared may not be that easy, and even though getting married or having a baby are two very exciting changes in one’s life, the transition is not as easy as putting on a coat.

Then there are those unexpected times when change occurs and it is not a time to celebrate.

This week in Vicksburg there was a tragic vehicle accident and in a matter of seconds lives were changed.

I was called in to go and take photographs of the incident and when I arrived, it was already too late for the driver of the SUV.

However, the passenger in the car was still alive and was surrounded by a group of first responders. They were all working diligently to save her life.

I noticed that the firefighters who were on the scene were in their heavy protective gear and the temperatures were in the high 80s. I wondered as I stood there sweating how they must be feeling in hot protective gear.

Another first responder was diligently holding a drip bag that was connected to the victim. His arm was surely tired while keeping the vital fluids elevated.

As I watched this crew administer care, I was in awe and humbled. Unlike most, whose jobs have a somewhat predictable outcome, these men and women never know from day to day what to expect.

Maybe they do get the joy and pleasure of birthing a newborn every so often, but more times than not, their job will require them to show up to a less than joyous occasion.

For them, every day their job is about seeing people’s lives change and mostly for the worse.

As I walked away that day from that terrible tragedy, I was shaken and the imagines of the scene lingered, and I realized this is the kind of job first responders deal with on a daily basis.

Their hearts must be heavy on many days.

Change — it can come in a flash and Vicksburg is fortunate to have dedicated people ready to help.

Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer at The Vicksburg Post. You may reach her at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.