As some of you may have noticed, I have not made a new post since the evening of Thursday, March third. I have been constantly updating that post as more news of the fallen has come out. I am in a state of shock and mourning, like many other Canadians are this week, given the events of last thursday.

I have so far not been able to bring together a post to put up here, but I will try to express myself now. Four young officers were murdered by a psychopath. They put on a uniform and accepted a number of risks which come with it, but that does not change the fact that they should be alive today. I could blow up now about the misuse of the charter by the courts, the inability of the general public to accept the world is a dangerous place, the inability of Parliament to enact laws with sufficient teeth to be a deterrent to crime, and the list goes on.

I could have been one of those four.

I have applied to the RCMP in the past, and very narrowly missed getting in. ‘That’ close. I should have applied again a few years ago, according to my father. He was probably right, but I wanted to get a few more of my ducks into a row. I have been directing all of my planning for the last 5 years into making myself a better candidate for the Force. I have been pursuing work opportunities that I think will make myself look better in the RCMP’s eyes. Everything has been pointed in that one direction.

I come from a policing background. My father was RCMP. Over 30 years before he retired, more or less unscathed – at least in the broader sense. I know the bond between all police officers. I share it too, in a form. I grew up around cops. Constantly exposed to the police culture at my father’s work and at home. I am not yet a member of that brotherhood, but I consider each and every man and woman who wears that uniform to be a brother.

I am basically the same age as all of them. Three of the four have lived in this city. I may have met some of them. Hell, when my dad was working for the RCMP he did the security/background investigation on one of them.

Fortune is a curious thing. I could have been standing there that morning. For whatever reason, my role in the grand scheme of things has yet to be played out. Maybe, hopefully, one day soon I will be among those who put on that uniform every day. I will have to accept the same risks as the four fallen Constables. I do not have a problem with those risks. However, I am reminded by this episode just how fragile and fleeting life is. If you are reading this, please do two things for me. First, call, write, email or visit the people you care about. Tell them how much you care about them and why. Right now. This is important – you just never know. One of you might not be around to hear or say it later. Second, next time you see a cop, even if it’s because you were speeding and got pulled over; thank them for doing their job. Shake their hand. It’s not something a cop hears as often as they deserve.