The last 3 days have been strugglers. I am trusting that Kim is right and today will be a better day. My pain started coming back again on Tuesday. It was bearable but a little uncomfortable. It got progressively worse with each day and yesterday it was unbearable at times. It felt like my lungs were being stabbed with sharp objects if I moved a certain way which happened a lot during the day. I was taking my pain meds which didnt help much when the sharp stabbing pain happened. I wasnt going to let it stop us from attending the KHP Graduation Ceremony though. It is too big a day for so many people including myself. I needed to attend and knew that it would do me some good and by the end of it everything was great. Kim and I spent some time visiting with everyone we could after the ceremonies were over. We were probably the last to leave the Academy except for those still working. We visited with Joe Vajgrt who has been my model for great person since we met nearly 21 years ago when I became a Trooper. We have pretty much been partners during my whole time with KHP. Joe is someone that everyone respects and if I could be half as good as Joe then I would be happy. I remember once while we were in Little Rock and I got a letter from someone that really hit me hard in a good way. I dont recall exactly what it said but I started crying. I had Kim read the letter and I said Maybe I am almost like Joe. Joe will retire soon and he will go down as one of the best that KHP has ever had if not THE BEST. He has earned it being the longest serving Trooper currently on the Patrol right now. Some have gone longer and ranked higher but no one has made an impact like Joe. I always enjoyed watching Joe teach recruits in DT. To me that is when he seemed the happiest. I took over the DT program about 11 years ago. Joe was actually in charge of it for many years before me. I would often ask Joe to take part of the class because I like to see his excitement and I wanted the recruits to proudly say that they were once taught by Joe. It was always my goal to take over Joes position working with the recruits when he retired but this cancer has changed things.This is probably Joes last recruit class and as long as I am teaching I will continue to carry out Joes legacy. After visiting with Joe yesterday I forgot all about my pain and Kim said you look happy again.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 11:48:50 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015