Thank you David. For me your image is very powerful. It takes me to vivid images and stories formed by years in a highway patrol uniform. A world exists along highways which most people drive by and rarely give thought to. Skid marks, broken glass, oil stains, debris and personal items thrown from vehicles during crashes, discarded first aid supplies and blood stains, roadside memorials placed by love ones, and monuments to men and women in uniform who gave their lives. Beyond the roadside I am drawn to the image of a highway patrol officer knocking on the door of family members in the middle of the night to tell them a love one will never come home. The family is about to experience a pain which will never go away. The officer’s compassion means a piece of the pain will remain with the officer as well. I am also drawn to images of an officer’s family members at a graveside with a coffin draped with an American flag and a trooper’s “smoky” hat. Surrounding the family are rows and rows of men and women in dress uniform quietly showing their respect for a fallen brother or sister many of them have never met, yet they know the fallen officer very well. Like the fallen officer, they all stepped up to do a job which needs to be done because they recognize there is an important cause larger than themselves.

I have many happy stories from my years in uniform as well, but they are not foremost in my mind at the moment. A brother officer who I went through the academy with recently retired after thirty years in uniform only to die of cancer a month later Christmas morning (officers have a thirty percent higher risk of cancer and a three hundred percent higher chance of heart disease). Another officer with over thirty years of service who I worked with took his own life about a week ago. Another retired brother told me not long ago that if he didn’t get a handle on his drinking, he would be dead in three years. I also regularly see a brother who has chronic PTSD. He is a broken and isolated man who struggles to make it through every single day.

I share these thoughts knowing you understand because I am fortunate to call you a friend.

Again, thank you.

Reply