Observations Of Life After Fifty

Some observations of my life after 50:

It is imperative now that I list things I need to do, supplies I need to buy, etc...but by the time I remember where the pen is, I can't find the paper.  Having found the paper...I can't remember what I wanted to write on the list.  Having finally remembered what I need to write on the list...I cannot find that furschlugginner pen...until I FINALLY look to see what I am holding in my right hand.

When going shopping at a large venue such #%$-Mart, I always park my Tahoe in about the same spot on the same row...but when I finally get out of the store I spend two hours looking for the Tahoe because it is not in its usual parking spot.  Finally I call 9-1-1 because the Tahoe is not at the spot I left it nor on any of the adjacent rows. Everything is okay, though, because the police will be here soon....and they finally arrive forty-five minutes later...after the very kind #%$-Mart cart crew has spent forty minutes helping me look for my Tahoe  They excitedly tell the police "No, he's NOT senile, there is NO TAHOE on the parking lot!"
That's about the time I remember I brought my wife's pickup this time...

Modern electric cords, USB plugs, miniature plugs for various computer and tablet appliances, and charging cords are made so that they can all be plugged into their respective receptacles in ONE (and ONLY ONE!) correct way.  Since there are only TWO possibilities for each plug, it would follow that a person would need at most TWO attempts to plug in any one of these cords correctly.  Yet, according to one source, the average person plugs in such cords incorrectly EIGHTY-NINE percent of the time.  Think about it...how many times have you found yourself fitting a cord at least THREE times before connecting it correctly?

Once a person LOOKS like a senior citizen it becomes pointless to argue with the cashier who ASSUMES the person really IS a senior citizen.  Plus, those two or three dollars saved per meal really begin to add up!  Not that I LOOK like a senior citizen, of course!  But, I have noticed that young ladies now hold the door open for ME, the grandfatherly-looking man behind them.  That is really an added perk!

I have always heard that "life begins at fifty."  What they did NOT tell me was that so much of that "life" would be spent at the doctor's office AFTER fifty.

High school kids should not laugh at those old "fogies" at Homecoming.  Guess what...when you attend your 35th Class Reunion, YOU are an old fogie too!

One begins to suspect he is "getting older" when all the people "in authority" are young enough to be one's son or daughter.  Police officers, doctors, nurses, preachers, teachers....are all beginning to look like they are YOUNGER than MY son and daughter.  I am beginning to have a sort of paranoia because so many of the professionals I depend on WERE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL when I moved to Midland!  If you remained in your home town and you are now over fifty, there is a strong possibility that your GRANDCHILDREN'S FRIENDS are now taking care of you!

Sitting in a big, fat, overstuffed lounger is not nearly as boring as I thought it would be thirty years ago.  In fact, sitting ANYWHERE is not as boring as it used to be thirty years ago.

Finally, although it would be great to be young, I am glad to still be here to "age."  Fifty-plus is definitely better than the obituary pages.










 

A Final Farewell To A Fallen Hero

Words can't describe the feelings I and so many others experienced today as we said a collective good-bye to Deputy Michael Naylor. I have never seen the kind of love and support shown for a fallen officer as I witnessed today. Several hundred people, including hundreds of officers from across the state were there. Sheriff Painter unpinned Mike's badge from his uniform shirt, knelt before Mike's wife, and pressed that now sacred star into her hands. And that tall and tough Sheriff openly wept with her. So did most of the people scattered throughout that huge church building. There were three overflow rooms beside the huge auditorium, and it still could not contain all those who wanted to pay their respects.

We later learned that in all the towns along the route from Midland, Texas to Hobbs, New Mexico, the people lined the highways and streets by the hundreds and honored this deputy as the procession passed through their respective towns.

I have only said this about one or two officers since 1981, but Mike was a cop's cop...the kind that other cops measure themselves by, and strive to meet his standards. Here on earth, especially here in Midland County, Texas, Deputy Michael Naylor will be so terribly missed and mourned. But in Heaven, that Thin Blue Line boasts another hero.

May you rest with your fallen brothers and sisters, Mike.

St. James Was, And Is, A Very Good Toe-Stomper, Then and Now

For the last few weeks, the minister at the church we attend has been bringing the Sunday lesson out of the Book of James.  James is one of my favorite books of the Bible because the author of this particular book was none other than James, the half-brother of Jesus.  James was with the group of relatives who went to "collect" Jesus when Jesus was preaching at Nazareth.  The people all thought Jesus was "out of His mind" because of all the things he said (see Matthew 3:21).  The fact that the family of Jesus did not believe yet that he was the Messiah is emphasized here because they, like the others, believed that Jesus of Nazareth had actually lost his mind.  This same James, just a few years later, penned the Book of James, and he no longer had any doubt: Jesus Christ was the Son of God and had been crucified to save the world. 

James had clearly spent much time with Jesus, and as St. James, he had much insight to offer his contemporaries as well as to us in this later time.  From the very start, St. James showed the love he learned from Jesus, his great concern for his fellow believers and for us who came later on.  St. James also had other things he wanted to pass on to us from the Good Shepherd himself.  From learning to be patient to taming our tongues, St. James did his best to teach Christians, no so much how to be "religious," but how to live life in the imitation of Christ.  Unfortunately for me, EVERY TIME I read St. James, or hear someone else read these holy words, I have to say that my toes are most severely stomped upon.  Today's lesson was no exception.

St. James, in Chapter 3, talks about wisdom, about how to get wisdom, and how to spot the person who has lived wisely.  Conversely, the same words also teach others how to know when a person HAS NOT lived such a wise life.  As those words unfolded from the Bible today, I felt the words stomp my toes, but more so, the words touched my heart.  I have not lived wisely for much of my life, and I do not feel like I am living more wisely even now as I begin the sunset-portion of my life.  St. James gave us these words in Chapter 3:

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom."

I have heard many people, both younger and older than me, say that they have few things in their lives that they regret, that they wish they could undo, or could have the chance to do better, as the case may be.  This is not the case for me.  I DO have many things that I regret, and that I wish I could undo.  I have to say that even at this ripe age of something north of Fifty, I am not much wiser than when I graduated high school.  St. James had this to say about the un-wise person, also from Chapter 3:

¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."  (Bold print is my addition.)

Contrast the above two verses to what St. James shows us about the life lived in wisdom, again from Chapter 3:

¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. ¹⁸ Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.  (Bold mine, again.)

So, there I was sitting in the service getting my toes pounded by the words of St. James, who was the Good Shepherd's brother, who lived with Lord on earth for many years, and who truly lived for Jesus right up to the Great Tribulation that befell Jerusalem in 69 A.D.  St. James did not want to discourage God's children, but to ENCOURAGE them to live wise and blessed life in the love of Christ.  I do love the Book of St. James even with the somewhat dire words contained there.  And, I live a blessed life, blessed because I am not alone, but I have friends and loved ones who care for me.  Most especially I have my lovely bride and also my very dear friend, both of whom have encouraged me so much even in the unwise life I have lived to this very day.  These two very dear people in my life always let me know that even with regrets and wrongs in my life, the Good Shepherd still loves me.  This kind of encouragement is also what St. James tells us we should do for our friends and loved ones, as we see in the closing verses of the Book of St. James, in Chapter 5:

¹⁹ Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul^[f] from death and cover a multitude of sins.  (Bold mine, once again!)

The Good Book is not really written so much to "stomp our toes" as it is to show us how to live, and to show us that even if we have some regrets, some wrongs in our lives, it is never too late to return to the right way.  When our dear friends, those who love us, give that encouragement, those persons have turned a sinner from error, and have covered over a multitude of sins.  Thank God for the words of St. James, which were really the words of Jesus, and thank God for those people in our lives who care enough for us to let us know that, while we have made errors, and while we may have regrets over some things we have done, they still love us, and the Good Shepherd Himself loves us as well, with a love that will truly never die.




 


 

End Of Watch: Deputy Michael Naylor, Midland County Sheriff's Office, Midland TX - October 9, 2014

Today Deputy Mike Naylor was murdered by a child predator who was the subject of an arrest warrant for failure to maintain his required sexual offender registration.  The subject named in the search and arrest warrant was determined to be at a residence on the western outskirts of Midland.  Deputy Naylor and other officers went to the residence, surrounded it, and announced their presence.  The offender did not answer officers.  When Deputy Naylor and a second deputy walked to the front door of the residence, a shot was fired from a window.  Deputy Naylor was struck in the head and went down instantly.  The second deputy attempted to give aid to the fallen officer but suffered a possible heart attack while rendering aid.  A third deputy who had just arrived at scene and deputies on the scene courageously rescued the fallen officer at risk to their own lives.  Paramedics with a large escort of officers transported Deputy Naylor to Midland Memorial Hospital.  Unfortunately the Deputy succumbed to his severe injury.

Deputy Mike Naylor was one of those officers that was respected very greatly by his colleagues but also by the public who knew him, as well.  He was the kind of officer who genuinely cared for people and tried to do not only the legal thing, but the right thing in all situations.  He served as mental health deputy when not performing other duties.  From my personal observations, I know that Mike Naylor cared for the people he detained for mental health issues.  He went out of his way to be sure that those people understood he wanted to help them, and he went out of his way to do whatever he could for them to make them more comfortable, to allay their fears.  On the street, he was a fair and just officer, always quick with a smile and a handshake.  Mike once told me that he was always glad when I was on duty at the hospital, because if things went sour with a mental patient, he always knew I would jump right in the fight with him.  I was a security officer at that time, and that was a complement I will never forget.

Today Deputy Naylor was at the hospital talking with the emergency room staff, just like any other day.  He waved at me as I walked to my duty station.  A few minutes later he told everyone goodbye and he went out on a call for service.  Less than an hour later he was shot, and the news of his death spread quickly.  It is impossible to describe the pallor that descended on the hospital at that moment as the emergency room filled with deputies and police officers, state troopers, and other officers. 

Less than another hour passed and we received news that, as I have had to write time and time again, the shooter meekly surrendered to officers, in the end begging them not to kill him.  Having personally been in this situation as a police officer, I can tell you that there is definitely a strong urge to administer quick justice right on the scene.  In fact, the officers were very restrained.  The shooter was taken into custody, and you and I, as taxpayers, will now be paying for his room and board, AND HIS ATTORNEY, as he awaits trial.

Later, Deputy Naylor's body was brought out of the hospital in a flag-draped gurney, escorted by his colleagues and his wife and loved ones.  I can tell you from personal experience that the hardest thing for an officer to do after this is to "go back to work."  No, not because of fear that he too might be shot or killed, but simply because it is really hard to be concerned about loud parties, minor car accidents, stupid disputes between neighbors, when his tears are not even dry from crying for his lost partner and friend.  But, one by one the deputies and other officers walked slowly away from the ambulance ramp and drove away to finish their shifts and return to their loved ones.

It is a sad day, but I am so proud to have known Deputy Mike Naylor, and to have worked with him even in the limited way I did over the past three years.  I am proud to honor him on this page, and I am especially proud of the light he shown on his badge and on the law enforcement profession.  I offer my deepest sympathy to his wife and family, and to the officers who lost a most beloved colleague. 

Mike, may you rest in peace as you join that Thin Blue Line over on a much better shore.  May God bless and comfort your family and your law enforcement brothers and sisters.