Day’s end

All of a sudden we get a call from dispatch. Motorcycle accident on highway 52. My mind went numb. Whenever there’s an accident on 52 it isn’t good, and I thought back 9 years ago when my mother was T-boned on 52. It took her three months to recover. The sirens blare and the lights flash on and we get on the highway as fast as we can, traveling at nearly ninety miles per hour. We were the third vehicle at the scene. I jump out of the passenger seat, my boy scout instincts kicking in as I run towards the body, with paramedics and deputies circling the rider.

When we arrived I see a miracle had happened. I looked toward his bike, and it was just scratched. He wasn’t hit, just fell over by the wind and landed in the ditch. He still needed medical attention, but he could help get himself onto the gurney. Not even two minutes passed before the Cannon Falls Volunteer Fire Department arrived, and another five slipped away until the Minnesota Highway Patrol arrived.

After the man was loaded into the ambulance, I looked around at all the faces. Men and Women, all devoted to one cause. They come from ambulances, fire trucks, state, county, and city police vehicles, but they all share the same purpose. They all have one thing that unites them all. They help people. They choose to put their lives at stake – from running into burning houses, taking a 911 call into unknown territory, or sit on 52 while cars are flying by at 60 miles per hour all to help a stranger. It’s untarnished empathy. Unfettered compassion. It’s the closest thing to God’s love that I can think of on this green earth.

The day has come to an end. In the morning Larson had a drug bust. I joined him for a ride along and we did traffic stops, domestic assault problems, MRAAC Assault, county domestic dispute, business check, and finally a motorcycle crash on Highway 52. It was a lot to take in, but it was reassuring to know that we have a thin blue line – the few that answer the calling, the few that protect those who can’t protect themselves and the few that put their lives on the line so we can live in comfort. These are the officers that we know in Cannon Falls, and we can safely go to sleep knowing that we are protected by this thin blue line; always there, always ready, and always willing to help.