I sat behind the wheel of my patrol car that cold November afternoon, listening quietly to the football game on the radio. As long as it didn\u2019t drown out the squawks coming over the police frequency, that was allowed. But my mind wasn\u2019t on the game. It wasn\u2019t even totally on the job. Two weeks earlier, my family had been dealt a huge blow: My Uncle Tony, Big T, was gone.<\/p>\n
A massive heart attack took him in his sleep. Uncle Tony didn\u2019t have children, so I was like a son to him. We both had hectic schedules\u2014he was a director for his church\u2014but we always checked in. I couldn\u2019t imagine life without him. Especially with Thanksgiving coming up. Our big Italian feasts at his house were legendary: Seven courses! It\u2019s a wonder I rolled out of there still in good enough shape for patrol duty.<\/p>\n
When my wife Nikki and I needed a break between antipasti and lasagna, Big T reluctantly put on the NFL Network for us. He wasn\u2019t a football fan, but he got a kick out of watching us. We\u2019d turn the volume up, way up\u2014cheering on our teams, hollering at the TV. \u201cLoud enough, Charles?\u201d he\u2019d tease me, mock-covering his ears. \u201cWhy ya watchin\u2019 a buncha guys chasin\u2019 a ball anyway?\u201d I could still hear him laughing.<\/p>\n
Now he was gone. Nikki, an editor for Guideposts<\/em>, tried to lift my spirits. \u201cUncle Tony will always be with you,\u201d she told me. But I wasn\u2019t so sure. As a cop, I need to be logical, cynical even, always looking to connect the dots. How could Big T still be with us?<\/p>\n I booted up the Info-Cop system and shifted into gear. \u201cI miss you, Big T!\u201d I said, pulling out of my space, not even sure who I was speaking to.<\/p>\n \u201cFIRST AND TEN AT THE 25!\u201d I nearly jumped through the roof. The volume on the radio had shot up, way up. I turned down the dial. It didn\u2019t work. What\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n I pulled over, cut the engine. Only when I restarted did the volume return to normal. Big T? Impossible<\/em>, I decided. Just a busted radio.<\/em><\/p>\n The next day, I took out a different car. Started it up and turned on sports radio, still wondering about the day before. Just as I pulled out, the volume shot up again. Same exact thing.<\/p>\n This time I laughed. I pictured my uncle, wherever he was, covering his ears, shouting over the noise. \u201cLoud enough, Charles? Loud enough?\u201d I couldn\u2019t wait to tell the family on Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n No other officer had radio problems in the cars I\u2019d taken. Since then, neither have I. I\u2019d already heard what I needed to hear, loud and clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I sat behind the wheel of my patrol car that cold November afternoon, listening quietly to the football game on the radio. As long as it didn\u2019t drown out the squawks coming over the police frequency, that was allowed. But my mind wasn\u2019t on the game. It wasn\u2019t even totally on the job. Two weeks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":29482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[376],"tags":[81],"ppma_author":[1048],"class_list":["post-21661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-managing-life-changes","tag-thanksgiving"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n