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How do I reconcile what I remember versus what I see now. That is the questions I ask myself as I stand at the end of my father's hospital bed.
I remember the few stories he told me about Vietnam like the convoy he and his team went to rescue only to find them all dead. Like most veterans he did not like to talk about it.
I remember the first day of school in first grade where he was working as the crossing guard in full police uniform and then being called to the school that same day when I hit a kid in the face with my Speed Buggy lunch box for picking on me. Kneeling down and asking me what happened. His only response....."knock that shit off".
The news clipping I had of him delivering a baby as a Hurst patrol officer.
I remember the stories of cases he worked as a Tarrant County sheriff's deputy.
The interviews he did with Henry Lee Lucas in Huntsville where he sat on death row.
They year he spent working the murder of Amber Hagerman and the case that led to his retirement from the sheriff's office, the murder of Opal Jennings.
Seeing him on the news as one of the investigators in the county courthouse shootings.
The things that happened during raids on drug houses. Some funny, some not.
Him teaching me how to drive, shoot guns, and work on cars a little.
Today was the day I had to look at the frail old man laying in the bed before me. Today was the day I had to decide to turn off his life support and lose the man I feared, respected and loved.
RIP dad until we meet again.
Signed
Your Son
I remember the few stories he told me about Vietnam like the convoy he and his team went to rescue only to find them all dead. Like most veterans he did not like to talk about it.
I remember the first day of school in first grade where he was working as the crossing guard in full police uniform and then being called to the school that same day when I hit a kid in the face with my Speed Buggy lunch box for picking on me. Kneeling down and asking me what happened. His only response....."knock that shit off".
The news clipping I had of him delivering a baby as a Hurst patrol officer.
I remember the stories of cases he worked as a Tarrant County sheriff's deputy.
The interviews he did with Henry Lee Lucas in Huntsville where he sat on death row.
They year he spent working the murder of Amber Hagerman and the case that led to his retirement from the sheriff's office, the murder of Opal Jennings.
Seeing him on the news as one of the investigators in the county courthouse shootings.
The things that happened during raids on drug houses. Some funny, some not.
Him teaching me how to drive, shoot guns, and work on cars a little.
Today was the day I had to look at the frail old man laying in the bed before me. Today was the day I had to decide to turn off his life support and lose the man I feared, respected and loved.
RIP dad until we meet again.
Signed
Your Son
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