Today would have been my mother's 79th birthday. I miss her everyday.
The house I lived in growing up was near a major road, which frequently saw rescue vehicles scream down it, on their way to some accident, fire, or medical emergency. My mother would often get up and go out on the porch to watch them go by. My siblings and I always thought of buying my mother a police scanner to help her stay on top of things. There were even some occasions when my mother would jump into the car and follow the fire trucks. She loved a good fire. In my mother's memory, I went out last night on a "ride along" with the Cheverly Police department. While it was something I wanted to do as part of my campaign for Councilman, I also thought it would be fun. And my mother would have loved it.
It was a quiet night in the town. My ride along was with Officer Lamb (Cheverly PD's Officer of the Year in 2007!). We rolled through the various trouble spots in the town, with Officer Lamb pointing out this and that. We made a few traffic stops (one for no seatbelt, one for a headlight out) and then took out the radar gun. We made two speeding stops, including one woman who was driving with a suspended license (and had her six-year old in the front seat with her). We then went to a stolen car report (which will happen when you leave the keys in the ignition). After that, we ended the evening with a fire (I'm sure my mother planned that one). A small fire broke out in the apartments in the town, and the FD had to break open a few doors to check on residents. At the same time, two of the fire trucks sideswiped each other, taking off a mirror on one of the trucks. When Officer Lamb headed back to the station to write up his reports, I took my leave and headed home. It was a very good experience and I am glad I did it.
Some time ago, I received the following video from my friend north of the border, Stinkypaw. I have to say that Mrs. BA finds herself saying to LBA quite often, "What did I just say?" I have taken to telling him something and then asking, "Do you understand?" or "What did I say?" Sometimes he gets it sometimes he doesn't. But it's selective - he's four. Then there was the time that he knocked his little brother down after being told not to do so. When he was asked why he hit his brother, he replied, "I didn't hit him, Mommy, I punched him."
5 comments:
Fittingly, it's Mother's Day in the UK today.
My grandmother always had a police scanner since they became widely available. I still remember being shushed as a child so that she could hear what was going on in our town where very little went on. There was talk of entombing it with her when she passed away several years ago, but I think it was finally decided that there was a shiny police scanner that always reported interesting kitchen fires and juvenile retain theft waiting for her on the other side.
How funny, my mother has a scanner and listens to it often. She also did a "ride along" with a cousin of mine who works for the Montreal Police. She loved it.
That son of yours is smart, that's all I'll say about that.
I'm sure your mother was behind that fire call as well... :-)
Four...already??? Jeeze...time flies.
Kim - I saw that on your blog. Thanks for your thoughts.
That being said - I am pretty sure my mother is sitting next to your grandmother listening to their bearcat and zipping off to watch one fire or another.
Paw - It was very fitting to end my night with a fire, I agree.
Lana - It's been three years (of course not long enough for my father to have moved in with someone else, but that's a story for another day).
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