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 Exercise Stories
Give Us This Day Our Daily Meds
Fall Prone
How Much Does It Cost?
Lessons From Uncle Gordy
Silver Strands
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How Much Does It Cost?
This is a true story; the names have been changed—but the events are true.
Several years ago, Officer Jack was working a law enforcement detail. Several other officers also worked the same joint detail, but Jack worked most closely with Officer Ted and would see him on a daily basis. Jack noticed almost immediately that Ted was not a happy person. Each day Jack would offer to have coffee with Ted, or offer to meet for lunch on an off day. Jack thought that in this way he could show Ted he wanted to be his friend, and he hoped that Ted might share the burden of whatever was bothering him. But each invitation was turned down. Ted was never willing to talk about anything.
On the last day of their joint detail, on his way into work, Jack stopped at a local drugstore and bought a simple card. Inside he wrote, “If you ever want to talk or go have coffee, call me. If you ever find it is 2 a.m. and you need someone to just listen, call me. It’s been fun working with you—stay safe.” That day, as the detail ended, Jack gave Ted the card. Ted took it, and without opening it, extended his hand for a goodbye handshake. “See you around,” he said as he drove away.
Two weeks later Ted called Jack to see if they could meet that day. “Come to my house—I’ll make coffee.” So Jack went, and after Ted had poured the coffee, he handed a package to Jack. Opening it, Jack saw it was a brand new semi-automatic handgun. Jack recognized how valuable that firearm was. He knew it was worth approximately $500.
“It’s yours, my gift to you,” Ted told Jack.
“No way,” Jack replied. It was far too expensive a gift for him to accept from a co-worker he had known such a short time.
“Listen,” Ted said, clearing his throat. “I want you to know why I’m giving this to you.” Ted then went on to tell Jack how he had purchased the gun intending to use it only one time. He talked of how his marriage was over and how he was facing a custody battle for his children. He had reached a point where he felt nobody cared about him. “I had decided on our last day of working together to come home, go to bed, and use this gun to kill myself. But I opened and read your card and thought if someone cared that much, maybe I wouldn’t kill myself. So the gun is my gift to you. You cannot refuse to take it!”
Jack still has the gun. He and Ted are friends today and still share a cup of coffee now and then. Ted is doing well, has gained custody of his children, and is a good father to them. Both Ted and Jack recognize that it was in God’s plan that they should meet at just the right time.
How much does it cost? Five minutes in a store to grab a card that costs less than two dollars and to write a few lines. You never know what a caring word or gesture might do to change a person’s outlook. |
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