Thank You Police Lt Joseph Bott

I have been thinking for a few days about a specific 'thank you' note that I needed to write, and I sat down tonight and finally wrote it.

Lt. Joseph Bott is the police officer who rang my door bell early the morning of 8/6/10, and told me my son had been killed in a car wreck.  Thinking back on that day, the emotions are still so raw, the details are still fuzzy, getting fuzzier with time.  Now it is certain things that I remember, acts of kindness as I was in the worst kind of shattered there is ... and one that I will always remember is the compassionate and professional way the police officers told me the news.

So MANY people who deal with death on a daily basis become distant from it, referring to the person as 'the deceased'.  I have observed before that once a person dies, they are worked into the 'business' of death.  We had some unbelievably cold and callus things said to us by people who work with death all the time.  They didn't worry about Max or how wonderful he was, but rather how he was to be handled now.  I don't suppose you could do a job like that without hardening your heart, or you would be unable to function.

Lt. Bott always referred to our son by his name, came into my home, made sure my support system was in place before leaving, and was extraordinarily kind. So I sent him a thank you note.  No reason not to encourage him.