Thursday, June 12, 2008
Sweet Sheriff
My family has a very dear friend named Bill. He works for the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department. We met him a little over 3 years ago after my daughter was assaulted by serial rapist Kevin Schaus. He was the detective assigned to the case. Without going into the whole story I will say that he did an outstanding job and I couldn't have asked for a better man for the job.
We have stayed in close contact and he is a very good friend of ours. He and Shae write back and forth and he stops in when he can to see her. I told him that she was playing softball this year and she would love it if he could make it to one of her games. Last nite he was able to. He was there when we got to the game. We got there a few minutes late because I had to pry the kids out of the pool and then drop the girls at practice at 6 and have Jordan and Shae to their games at 6. I saw Bill when we rounded the corner but didn't say anything to Shae. I walked up to him and he said that he was afraid that we weren't coming. I explained to him why we were late. Shae was still oblivious to the conversation so I said to her,"Shae,who is this?" She looked up and yelled "Bill!" and almost tackled him to the ground.
He brought her a t-shirt from the Sheriff's dept. She was so excited that he was there that I think she forgot she had a game to play. I ushered her off to her game and Bill and I were able to catch up. Shae played well and she kept giving Bill a thumbs up. Pat showed up a little while later and we stood around and chatted. It was so nice to have some adult time even if there were a million kids running around. I usually bring my camera to the games but I didn't last nite. I had to get a pic of Shae and Bill so I sent the hubby home to get it. He went willingly :)
After the game was over we walked Bill to his car. He was driving an undercover car and as he was pulling away from us he turned the lights on for the kids. They loved it. Shae never stopped smiling. She literally fell asleep with a smile on her face. She was muttering something about being glad that she saw her best friend. It was so precious.
I can honestly say that I have never met anyone like Bill. He goes above and beyond what he needs to. I was telling my gram about Bill showing up to the game and she said that she was amazed that someone in his position would keep in touch the way he has. I told her that he was just an extraordinary man that cared. And that's really what it comes down to. I think in some way Shae's case really touched him. He has a special connection with her and our family. He even went as far as to make sure that we were safe and we had no clue. Last nite he told me that there was an undercover cop that used to live across the street from our old apartment and he asked him to watch out for us. That just shows what a good friend and excellent cop he is.
I'm glad that something so good came out of a situation that was so bad. Bill will always be a special part of our family.Labels: kids
