Spilt Wine

Today I attended the funeral service for the Sheriff Deputy that was murdered in the line of duty earlier this week. The service was sorrowful and sad. The combination of his untimely death which is so close to Christmas and that he left three small children behind was heart breaking. Everytime his children were mention, I broke. Two times during the service I got the chills. The first was when the bag pipes were played and second was seeing all of the diffent agencies that came to pay their respects and support. I was going to write more about it, but then I came across this comment left on the Times Delta web site which is far better than what I can come up with. The comment is as follows:


"A co-worker and I stood for almost two hours on the overpass, waiting for the procession to pass by. There were dozens of others with us, and we chatted and compared our motivations for being there. The media was all around, and we tried to ignore them!

After our long wait, at last the traffic stopped and the freeway was eerily quiet. In the distance, we could see the headlights of the Highway Patrol precision motorcycle corps, leading the way. Every voice grew silent, as the motorcade escorting the hearse and the family passed under us.

What followed defies description. More law enforcement cars than I would even attempt to count, hundreds upon hundreds, their red and blue lights a somber sight for as far as the eye could see. From Visalia, Tulare County, Kings County, Kern County, Farmersville, Selma, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Reedley, Lemoore, Arvin, and even Amador County. Many other insignia I could not read through my tears. Hundreds of them, some unmarked, some obviously undercover motorcycle cops, ambulances, fire trucks, even a contingent from the COS police academy.

It was a moving, heartbreaking experience, standing there simply and quietly to honor the sacrifice of a fine young man...and to show his widow and children that the people he died protecting are grateful."