Epilogue

After finding an apartment in Fort Myers, Florida, and getting settled in, my wife drove me the seventy miles to the Venice Florida Highway Patrol station to pick up my patrol car. The scenery was great and the traffic wasn’t bad. Quite honestly, it seemed like paradise to me and Jennifer. The sun was shining brightly and the trees and grass were a beautiful green.

I thought to myself, Man, I am going to love this place.

Granted, I am from Florida, but my part of the state is sometimes referred to as lower Alabama because we relate more to Alabamians than to Floridians. Oh well, either way, this place was amazing.

As we pulled in to the highway patrol station, I noticed several empty highway patrol cruisers. They were a black-and-tan color, all shiny with light bars and numerous radio antennas protruding from the roof. I was in awe at the realization that I would be driving one of those beautiful automobiles.

I went inside the station and met the captain. Captain Scranton was not a real pleasant man. Okay, well that is an understatement; we absolutely hated each other from the moment we met. I am not sure why this was how things started for me, but as I recall, his words to me were…

“Boy, if you get one scratch on that car or step out of line the least little bit, I will have your ass. I don’t like you, so give me a reason to fire you please.” He said this with that deep good ole boy southern drawl. He sounded like he stepped straight out of Texas, but I can assure you that he was not from Texas. We would later learn to coexist and even get along, but that would be much later.

By the way, I would get far more than one scratch on the car. As a matter of fact, I sank that car. but alas, that is a story for another date.

Now, after hearing those words, I quickly got my car keys and left the station. I did meet a few fellow troopers on the way out of the door, but I was in no mood to linger about and give my captain any more of a reason to despise me.

I unlocked my cruiser door and sat inside the beautiful machine. I looked around and then shut the door. I put the key in the ignition and turned the engine over, and she began to roar like a great big black bear waking from a long slumber. The car roared, and I could feel the power as I drove her down the road. Headed back toward Fort Myers, I would drive past shopping store windows and I could see the reflection of myself behind the wheel of this awesome piece of equipment. This was an awesome and yet humbling sight.

I was reminded every time I would see my reflection that I was fighting and serving more than just myself. I was reminded that I took an oath to protect the citizens of Florida and the United States, with my life if necessary. This was not an oath that I took lightly. I am a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, the best of the best, and I will put my life on the line for you and your family.