A Sad Day for us all
Last week a police officer was killed while on duty. The patrol car was hit head-on by a teenage driver going the wrong way without headlights at night. She was pronounced dead at the scene; her partner required surgery; the driver of the other vehicle hospitalized for several days. She and her husband of ten months had been in the process of acquiring a cat. She was just 23.
Her funeral was Saturday.
The funeral procession marking the route of the hearse from the mortuary–just two blocks away from my home and through Calder and up Dowlen to a large church was lined by people and flags and yellow ribbons and signs.
Wrecker trucks with huge flags, ambulances, fire trucks, motorcycles along with police vehicles from far and near made for an impressive display. I stood in the shadow of a BlueBell van truck (gratefully as it was incredibly hot already at just 9 AM). 
There was silence as the long procession passed by.
Sheena was just doing her job. She put on her uniform and went to work. Just like thousands of others of us who may face danger in their work. My days of working in the ER are past; but I continue to have the highest respect for those officers who put on a hot and cumbersome bullet-proof vest, load up on all their equipment and deal with some of the most unpleasant people you would ever hope to never meet.
Sylvia Weir Art 