They sealed his locker this week.

His squad did an awesome job of turning his locker into a beautiful memorial to their fallen team member and brother and friend. 

As we stood in the men’s locker room at the precinct, it took me a little while to realize I was looking around, over the heads of everyone else (because his head always stuck out of a crowd), looking for Davey.

In the sea of the blue, it was an automatic reaction.

And then,

I remembered…..

I wasn’t going to see him here today.

Or ……..

These events are bitter-sweet.  It’s great to get together to honor Davey and the sacrifice he made in order to protect and defend others.

These times of remembering also shine a light on the big hole that has been left in our lives.

When I saw his Cardinals hat on the top shelf of his locker, I caught a quick glimpse of him wearing that hat and smiling at me with eyes that look so much like mine.

I love catching glimpses of him.

Sometimes, as I sit on my couch watching a kid’s movie on TV, out of the corner of my eye, I see a 6 year-old Davey sitting on the other couch,  watching the movie with me.

When I look over, it’s obviously not Davey.  It’s his son, Micah.

So much like his father.

Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the LORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Justice and mercy and humbleness before God is stamped on his heart and soul.

His long legs spread out in odd directions when he’s getting comfortable.

Such a bright smile!

Intelligent and kind eyes.

That big head full of ideas and questions and plans.

His gentleness with his sister.

And his exasperation with her when she shows her ‘strong will’ and doesn’t want to have fun.

He needs to know the rules and follow the rules.  He doesn’t want to get into trouble.  Doesn’t like to get a ‘time out’.

But he will question the rules.  They have to make sense to him.

He loves sports……all of them.

And he knows A LOT more about sports than most kids his age.

He can be goofy and clown around.  Life is good when everyone around him is having a good time.

He loves his family. They are extremely important to him.

And he loves his friends.  It’s not hard to become his friend…..his heart is always open for another one.

He loves to go…. and do… and have fun.

He’s an obvious extrovert who loves people.

And he loves God.  He knows a lot of the Bible stories – one of his favorites is David and Goliath.

Am I talking about Davey or Micah?

You guessed it –

I’m talking about both of them.

Don’t get me wrong – Micah’s personality is also packed with awesome things that are uniquely Micah.  I’m very interested to see how all of these great qualities roll up into the amazing young man he is destined to be.

Meanwhile, I will treasure these  ‘glimpses’ of Davey…..

until I go ‘home’ and see the real thing again.