Epilogue

Friday, May 25, 2018

Unemployment proved surprisingly busy. For one thing, I had to finish my requirements at UGA and spend some time going back and forth to graduate. Kelly insisted I go to graduation and show Riley and Seamus that Daddy went to graduation. I was somewhat skeptical about that, since I figured that by the time they graduated I would be lucky if they even acknowledged my existence. I also enrolled for my doctorate; my planned thesis was to be on the militarization of the police. If there was anything I could speak to, it was the military and the police.

Another thing that took some time was that Tolley Hunter found her ghost writer. One afternoon she conference-called a fellow named Christopher Balvin, who laid out what he was thinking. He was thinking of alternating chapters, basing the book on biographies of Tolley and me. She was only a few years older than I was, so that wasn’t impossible. The idea was to write the story as the intersection of two separate lives, and the events that made us who we are and what made that eventual meeting as spectacular as it was. I would need to provide information on the rest of Bravo Three. He was going to be calling each of us separately and visiting at some point.

Before Crowley left, he managed to push through a couple of commendations, one for me and one for Little Billy, and I picked up another Purple Heart. He also approved my qualification under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act to conceal-carry as a retired peace officer. The one thing I couldn’t obtain, though, was permission to carry on an airplane. We tried to get the federal license to do that, but for some reason the Transportation Safety Administration frowned on people carrying guns on airplanes. They had all sorts of rules about that! I would need to put my weapon in my checked luggage.

Another time-consuming item was the preparation of the harbor and dock facilities, along with renovations and repairs to the fleet. Put more accurately, it was time for spring cleaning on the dock and the boat. In theory that was an all-hands-on-deck operation. The reality involved the kids goofing off with Boxie while Kelly kept them under control. I washed the dock and boat, got the bumpers set, and otherwise prepped everything for the summer. Mom and Dad frequently docked with us, and several friends had their own boats and would come over. Now that school was out, Riley informed me that we needed to go fishing all the time. I promised her I would make the sacrifice.

One thing I hadn’t expected, but I should have, was that I began getting calls from the media. Before, as a police officer, I could simply say that department policy prohibited me from speaking. Aside from back when I got the Medal, and last fall when Jack got me involved in the football kneeling mess, I avoided the press. Now I had nobody to run interference for me. Most of the press interest had died off before I officially retired, but I did return a call from Scott Pelley of CBS News. He had done the 60 Minutes piece on me way back when and was interested in a follow-up piece. We just needed to find a time to talk.

A very pleasant way to pass the time was about to occur. Classes were over at Matucket State and Kelly was taking a week-plus off. Tomorrow, Saturday, we were flying to Miami, where we would board a cruise ship for a ten-day cruise through the Caribbean. Kelly was taking the kids over to her parents this afternoon, and then we would finish packing for the trip. When I booked the cruise, she insisted on a balcony suite; when I asked why, she blushed and told me that a friend at college had done that for her honeymoon and that all sorts of ‘naughty things’ happened on balconies.

“Just how naughty? Have you reviewed that list with my mother?”

“WHAT!”

“Kelly, you need to check on this. What if one of those naughty things was what Mom did to Dad? I don’t think they’ll have a heart surgeon handy in the middle of the ocean.”

Kelly had laughed loud and long at that, then whispered what some of those naughty things were. I decided to chance it after all.