The above image is of my old buddy Colin. He is a Lansing, Michigan cop. We go way back, close to 20 years back. We played high school lacrosse together. Lots of good clean fun, some highjinks as well. Kept playing together some in college as well. He was in fact, my first mountain biking buddy. The first dude I knew who got a job at a bike shop. We used to rip single track all over mid-Michigan in sleeveless t-shirts and without helmets. When I turned 21, he was the first person that bought me a drink. Fucking Prairie Fire. I spent a weekend at his house one time, we drank only Molson Canadians, and everything we ate was meat cooked on a bbq. It was pretty awesome. We spent a hell of a lot of time listening to The Smashing Pumpkins "gish" album and playing disc golf at Grand Woods Park.
We drifted apart after I left Lansing in 1998, at the time he was a cop in Charlotte. Last time I saw him, he told me if he ever saw me on his beat, he'd run me in...never knew if he was kidding or not.
Last Saturday morning, he took a bullet in the spine. He is in the hospital with two collapsed lungs, and from what I've been told, is paralyzed from the chest down. I wasn't there, so I don't know what exactly happened. What I do know is that the shooter was his wife.
I also know that personally, this is the most fucked up situation that has ever happened to anyone I know. The knowledge of the event kept me awake last night...it is heavy.
He and his family are in my thoughts.
2 comments:
We have some things in common.
I left Lansing a few years after you, but like you I made some solid friendships while there. I had many friends that worked as Lansing cops. I may have even met your friend?
I wish I could offer something to ease your passage into wrapping your head around what happened to your friend but I cannot.
I post this comment because I too had a friend get messed up in Lansing after I left. A friend of mine named Linda decided she had had enough and took to a pistol to solve her problem. Months later they found her man buried in the backyard under the pool the kids swam in.
Not sure if your story involves intentional actions or not but I am sure it is no easier to come to terms with.
Peace, man. Time will likely bring clarity.
Dan,
I'm sorry to read this and surprised at the "who" of the situation. I cannot say anything to ease the pain - no words would seem right.
I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers as well as Collin. I'm sorry.
Love,
KP
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