Epiphany in Baltimore

Sunday, Jul. 27, 2003

Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com

Last night was my dad's retirement party. He's been a cop for 25 years, and his career has done more for me than just acting as a conversation piece when I happen to get pulled over. I've gained much from his work ethic, his steadfast adherance to hard work. I spent some of the weekend writing my curriculum, and I don't know if a lot of teachers spend July 25 working on schoolwork. I thank my dad for that kind of work ethic.

He also never brought his job home with him. He could have, but he didn't. I don't remember hearing about his failures, nor his successes. I found out at the party how valued he was as a police officer (one man said his retirement was a blow to every citizen in the state), but he was always modest about it at home. I always knew he was a cop, of course, and he brought in his job when needed - showing us a car that had a fatal accident in it and showing us the dried blood on the dashboard from the driver, who wasn't wearing his seatbelt. I never get into a car now without putting on the seatbelts. That's the only way he brought work home with him.

Being the son of a cop can be daunting. Sometimes I felt like it was tattooed on my forehead in high school, and I think I used it as an excuse as to why I wasn't more popular. Offspring of cops tend to fall into two categories - the perfect teacher's pet and the rebel. I filled the former role, while Heidi tended to fill the latter role. I never had a sip of alcohol until I was a sophomore in college, while Heidi was regularly boozing it up as a sophomore in high school. But I think Dad handled us both pretty well. All the moving around the state - to South Haven, to Detroit, back to South Haven - was worth it.

That was the gist of the speech I had planned out for him, but "open forum" tim eo fthe ceremony was pretty much taken up by two very drunk men, and the master of ceremonies cut it off after that point. But that's okay. The state representative was there, which was neat. My dad and his colleague received many honors and I was very proud of my father.

The party was great. I drank a lot of free beer (a perk of being in the immediate family of the honoree), danced, and hung out with family I rarely see. My extended family has much dynsfunction, but most of them were able to put aside issues and come out and have a good time. I was especially impressed with my cousin Mike and his wife Beth, and I think I might attend their wedding reception next weekend.

Today was spent mostly cleaning up and relaxing. I'm reading Julia Alvarez's In the Time of Butterflies, and am tentatively penciling it in to the 9th grade curriculum. I can't wait for school to start!

Meanwhile, I'm getting very worried about my 15-year old cousin Victoria. She spent most of the weekend here and seemed happy, but her entries today (1, 2) are very worrisome. Vic, I hope things are getting better!