Sounds in the Night

What bliss! Sleep. The blessed joy of sleep. At 10:30 PM I was fast asleep.

At 10:58 my pager sounded. I haven’t had this pager for very long and we are not used to the sound it makes yet. Donna asked what it was. When I figured it out, I told her it was the police department.

There had been a single car accident at I-69 and I-469. The driver was alone and critically injured. I went to the scene.

There wasn’t much for me to do. I talked to officers who were blocking traffic. I tried to stay out of the way.

Before leaving, I phoned the hospital Chaplain to see if I could help there. The answer was, yes, I could help. They needed help finding a next of kin.

I found a police sergeant and we went looking. We knocked on the door of the victim. No one there. We tried a neighbor’s house. Now it was 1:00 AM. He was kind, but didn’t know much – except that the neighbor on the other side worked with the injured man.

The co-worker gave us the name of an ex-wife and we were off to New Haven. We told the mother of his children and she was off to the hospital.

Our good deed done.

I am increasing impressed with the men and women of the Fort Wayne Police Department. Two officers went out of their way and out of their jurisdiction to be kind. We were not doing a death notification. Most police agencies would deliver the message of an injury over the phone. But these people went out of their way trying to make a difficult situation a little easier to bear.

So I went home. Back in bed about 2:30. I was instantly asleep. Bliss!

Donna asked, “What is that?” I said, “It’s my pager.” She said, “I thought you already got up.” I responded, “I did. Now it’s 5:30 and a pedestrian was hit on Reed Road.” So I was up and getting dressed again.

After a stop for coffee, I went under the tape again. Talking to officers and trying to stay out of the way. I talked with the driver of the car. I listened to his story. Telling our stories is always important. I prayed with him before he was transported to the hospital for a blood draw.

Once again, it took some time to identify the deceased woman. We are so careful.

And again, some people said they knew who she was, but the coroner’s investigator had to be sure. Eventually, we went to see a relative and confirmed what the grapevine had already told him.

There was another break from 8:30 to 13:00 (1:00 PM.) I don’t usually go to the scene of a natural death, but I heard about one on my police radio and it was just a few blocks away from where I had lunch – so I went.

I gave the surviving mother a copy of a little booklet I developed that is packed with helpful information and phone numbers. I prayed with her. I held her hand and listened as she cried for her grown son.

The rest of the day was productive. I visited with people, made phone calls, planned and prepared.

Two pages in the night is unusual. Three responses in one day is rare. Did anyone check the cycle of the moon today?