Sunday, December 18, 2011

Home for Christmas

I'm investigating the circumstances surrounding a body that was found in the 2000 block of Mecklenburg Street on November 23, 2011.  I'n not revealing any police secrets about him and this story has been all over the news...twice and I haven't had so much a single credible phone call.  The couple of leads I did have just didn't pan out.  At this point, I'm stuck but I'm not writing to get help with this.  I'm writing because no one has stepped up to say this is my son, or brother or friend.  Is there not someone out there who is missing this guy?  Is there not someone out there that wants him home for Christmas other than me?  For the past (almost) month, I've been trying to put a name with the body and get him home and I wanted to do it before Christmas.  Why, you ask?  Because he deserves it.  Everyone deserves to be home or at least where they want to be on Christmas morning.  When he was a kid, I bet he couldn't sleep on Christmas Eve and stayed awake to hear Santa on the roof.  He probably woke his parents up at the crack of dawn so he could see what Santa left for him.  Even though his tree had been up for a while, I'm sure the lights twinkled just a little brighter that morning.  His parents love him very much.

There is also the reverse of this case going on right now.  There's a missing person that has been all over the news whose parents want him home.  They are looking for him as are the police and, tonight, the fire department.  They're active in the investigation and want very much to find him.  They stepped forward to say we want him home for Christmas.  We want him with us.  He needs to be home for Christmas because he deserves it, too.  He, too, couldn't sleep on Christmas Eve and waited up for Santa.  I bet he was the first one up on Christmas morning and marveled at how beautiful the tree looked with all of the packages under it.  The Christmas dinner smelled and tasted better than the year before.  His parents love him very much.  

I've worked many of them but at least I was able to see my family for a while.  I was where I wanted to be every Christmas.  I have worked Christmas with some very good friends and spent it with family that I love very much and sometimes I was able to do both at the same time.  I spent a few Christmases with families who had a loved one that died that day would never see another Christmas.  Christmas, for them, would forever be a day of sadness.  My mom died 13 days before Christmas in 2003 and it hasn't been the same for me since.  I even spent one Christmas night on a SWAT call out (when I was a medic for the Team).  Sometimes I was where I needed to be.  But the one thing I could be sure of was that where ever I was someone there loved me and was happy I was there.  

Are you going to be where you want to be for Christmas this year?  I'll be working as will my wife but Christmas day is not as important as Christmas Eve this year.  My whole family will be together for the first time in years.  All five kids and my wife and four deaf pit bulls!  I hope to have a great day and make some new Christmas memories.

Home for Christmas?  Even if you can't get there if Christmas is in your heart and if it lives there, you can always be home for Christmas.  

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