BEING IN THAT CAR, IN THAT MOMENT… IT OFFERED ME A VERY RARE GLIMPSE INTO A VAST ARRAY OF LIVES. I COULD SEE THROUGH MY PERIPHERAL VISION A DETECTIVE WHO, DESPITE BEING OVERLY FOND OF HIMSELF AND CONSTANTLY PROCLAIMING HIS CARDINAL NEED FOR SOLITUDE, WAS ACTUALLY ENJOYING THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS. I COULD SEE IN THE THIN LINES ETCHED UNDERNEATH HIS EYES THE FAINTEST TRACES OF HAPPINESS, AND CONTENTMENT, AND PERHAPS EVEN A HINT OF PLEASANT REMEMBRANCES, AS IF HE HAD AT ONE TIME ENJOYED THE CAMARADERIE OF OTHERS IN A LIFE LONG GONE. I SAW A MAN WHO HAD BEEN BROUGHT INTO THIS WORLD VERY MUCH AWARE THAT HE WOULD DO GREAT THINGS.
I COULD SEE IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR A PREMATURELY AGING INSPECTOR WHOSE UNKEMPT HAIR WAS NOT A SIGN OF NEGLECT, BUT AN OVERSIGHT AS A RESULT OF STRESS, AND IMPORTANCE, AND DURESS. I COULD SEE IN THE WAY HE NOW HELD HIS SHOULDERS THAT HE WAS IN HIS ELEMENT ONCE MORE. HE WAS READY, AND HE WAS ADJUSTED, AND HE WAS PLEASED TO ONCE AGAIN BE ONE OF THE VANGUARD. HE’D BEEN SIDELINED FOR TOO LONG AND WAS NOW ABLE TO CONTINUE MAKING THE DIFFERENCE HE SO DESPERATELY STRIVED TO MAKE. I SAW A MAN WHO HAD COME UP IN A WORLD FILLED WITH UNPLEASANTRIES, AND HAD ELECTED TO CHANGE THEM, AND IN DOING SO, HAD ACHIEVED AN UNRIVALED GREATNESS OF HIS OWN.
TO HIS SIDE, I COULD SEE YOUNG EYES THAT HAD WEATHERED STORMS HIS PEERS WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND. I COULD SEE NOT A BOY, BUT A MAN, FORGED FROM PAST TRAGEDIES TO OVERCOME MISHAP AND STAND IN THE LIGHT OF HIS TRIUMPHS. IN THAT MAN’S BUDDING EYES, I COULD SEE ENLIGHTENMENT, AND DETERMINATION, AND ABOVE ALL, HOPE. I SAW THE FUTURE OF US ALL IN HIM, AND FROM THAT, I WAS COMFORTED, BECAUSE I KNEW, SHOULD WE LEAVE THE WORLD, WE WOULD LEAVE IT IN CAPABLE HANDS. I SAW A MAN WHO HAD STOOD WITH LOCKED KNEES AND BRACED SHOULDERS AS THE WORLD HAD THRUSTED ITS WORST UPON HIM, AS IT HAD TAKEN ALL THAT WAS GREAT AND SEEN TO IT THAT HE WOULD KNOW ITS TRUEST VALUE.