Weather team rallies to support ‘family member’ Published March 11, 2009 335th Training Squadron KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, BILOXI, MISS. -- What would you do if one of your family members suddenly fell ill? What type of question is that? Family takes care of family. But how do you define family? In the 335th Training Squadron's weather training flight, "family" means "co-worker." Janet Fish is the flight's secretary, and when she was diagnosed with a medical condition that would require her to miss six weeks of work, her squadron family came to her aid. "As our secretary, Ms. Fish is one of the most important people in our flight," said Tech. Sgt. LaKeitha Luster, an instructor. "She makes sure our mail gets out, gets us to your appointments, runs errands, makes sure we get all messages and makes sure that our graduation certificates are always completed on time." When Ms. Fish became ill, her squadron family was concerned. "As a civilian, that meant that unless she has enough leave to cover her entire convalescence, she would not get paid," Sergeant Luster explained. "As an administrative specialist, she's not topping out the pay scales." "When we found out that one of our own needed our help, we didn't think twice about if we would help or not -- we thought more about what we would do," she continued. "My co-workers are the best group of people that I know. I've never thought of a time when one of us has needed some help moving or painting and no one has showed up." For starters, squadron members knew that Ms. Fish would need to relax while she was recovering. Flight donations paid for a recliner and a brand new mattress set. "Ms. Fish is a grandmother who takes care of her grandson," Sergeant Luster remarked, "but we know that even grandparents need a break, so we've donated volunteer hours to get her grandson to Little League, the movies and just out for a while. Ms. Fish never has to cook since we bring over weekly meals." Knowing that Ms. Fish could use help paying for her hospital stay and medical bills, the flight's students sponsored a pizza sale that raised more than $700. Team Keesler stepped up to the plate when the call went out to all civilians asking for donated leave hours for Ms. Fish. They responded with 384 hours of leave to assist Ms. Fish. "I must say that in my career, I've never worked with a group of people that I would necessarily consider family," Sergeant Luster observed. "Yeah, there were acquaintances and some friends here and there, but never family -- until I got stationed at Keesler. I'm grateful for this reminder that family can be much more than just blood relatives."