I want to tell you all about an old friend of mine, Tommy McMeekin. Tommy moved into the house next to my grandmother in Atlantic City when I was around, I don't know, maybe six years old. I spent every saturday at my grandma's with my father as a kid, so we quickly became friends...though I didn't know it at the time we both came from large irish families in the area, and several of our relatives had grown up together too. I looked forward to every weekend and going to Denny street to play GI Joe, or atari, or transformers, or just to run around and carry on and have a good time.
Now Tommy always knew what what he wanted to be...he wanted to be a cop. Me, I changed my mind every day...hell, I'm still trying to figure it out, but Tommy...he always knew. He came from a long line of police and firemen, and he was always sure he was going to a police officer.
As we got older we didn't lose contact...he was a few years behind me, but we went to the same high school and both attended Rutgers U. After school we didn't see each other that often, but would run into each other from time to time and catch up. When he made the ACPD it wasn't so much the completion of a dream as it was an inevitabily...no one ever thought he wouldn't.
Tommy had a sense of presence, of determination that seemed beyond his years...a strength of character that you had to respect and admire. When his father was paralyzed in an accident he stepped up and worked even harder to take care of him and push toward his goals.He found the love of his life, got married and had a daughter.
Now, the last few days I suddenly started thinking about Tommy, and I couldn't figure out why. So, I pulled out the old albums and it hit me...
Tommy died March 4th, 2005 in an accident in the line of duty. Though it's a date I long pushed out of my memory, my subconscious wouldn't let it go.
I still remember hearing the news. I remember standing in the cemetery, not far from my own parents graves, crying while the snow beat down on us and the bagpipes played. He was not the first friend I have lost, but his death is one of the hardest I've faced.
Tommy, you are are missed...and truly this world is not as bright a place without you in it.
Now Tommy always knew what what he wanted to be...he wanted to be a cop. Me, I changed my mind every day...hell, I'm still trying to figure it out, but Tommy...he always knew. He came from a long line of police and firemen, and he was always sure he was going to a police officer.
As we got older we didn't lose contact...he was a few years behind me, but we went to the same high school and both attended Rutgers U. After school we didn't see each other that often, but would run into each other from time to time and catch up. When he made the ACPD it wasn't so much the completion of a dream as it was an inevitabily...no one ever thought he wouldn't.
Tommy had a sense of presence, of determination that seemed beyond his years...a strength of character that you had to respect and admire. When his father was paralyzed in an accident he stepped up and worked even harder to take care of him and push toward his goals.He found the love of his life, got married and had a daughter.
Now, the last few days I suddenly started thinking about Tommy, and I couldn't figure out why. So, I pulled out the old albums and it hit me...
Tommy died March 4th, 2005 in an accident in the line of duty. Though it's a date I long pushed out of my memory, my subconscious wouldn't let it go.
I still remember hearing the news. I remember standing in the cemetery, not far from my own parents graves, crying while the snow beat down on us and the bagpipes played. He was not the first friend I have lost, but his death is one of the hardest I've faced.
Tommy, you are are missed...and truly this world is not as bright a place without you in it.
aleksa:
I work at a police department, so I can relate to that much more than probably a lot of the people out there. We've been through it at our department, and I can safely say that almost nothing in my life was worse than that week was.