AUSTIN — Precisely 29 men and women graduated from the Austin Fire Department's Cadet Class 125 Friday afternoon, a moment that would make any parent proud.
But for one AFD family, the ceremony was déjà vu.
Maxwel Sullivan Higdon, 21, had been waiting for this moment his whole life.
"I climbed around the fire trucks when I was a little kid," Higdon said. "It's really finally becoming real today. I'm just excited to continue the legacy."
A day, you could say, that was generations in the making.
"It's a very big deal for the whole family," Higdon's father, Mike Sullivan, told KVUE.
Sullivan joined AFD in 1973 and retired in 2010. Higdon's mother, Hilary, joined AFD 1995 and it doesn't end there. Three of Sullivan's brothers -- Tim, David, and Jake -- also joined the department years ago.
"I'm very happy that Max will have the opportunity to serve Austin and be a firefighter and, perhaps, enjoy a career as much as I did," Sullivan said.
It's a career Higdon has long admired.
"When I was real little, I just wanted to do what my parents did like every other kid, you know, wear your dad's dress shoes. For us, it was turnout boots," he said.
Soon, though, he'll be wearing turnout boots of his own.
"Maxwel Higdon, pinned by mother AFD firefighter Hilary Higdon and father retired AFD lieutenant Mike Sullivan," the speaker at the ceremony called out.
With his parents standing proudly by his side, Higdon joined 28 other cadets as they get one step closer to becoming full-time firefighters. It's a feat his parents have no doubt he'll conquer.
"It's been the best job ever," Hilary said. "And it's just an honor to have him in here."
An AFD spokesperson told KVUE the cadets will be on probation for about six months while they learn from other firefighters in the field. Once they pass their final test, they'll be stationed throughout the city.