As Caleb began to strum the chords I immediately recognized the familiar notes of a song his father had made up and hummed every Saturday morning of my sons early childhood. Caleb sang the lyrics about burning pancakes and coming home with a voice that was shaking and thin but remarkably brave. By the time he reached the chorus about holding the light the entire gymnasium had fallen completely silent and grown men throughout the audience were weeping openly at the heartbreaking tribute. Just as he began the second verse the heavy double doors at the back of the room suddenly swung open and two uniformed police officers walked inside. My blood ran cold as I immediately recognized the first officer as Ray Delgado who simply removed his hat and nodded encouragingly toward my son on the stage. Then the doors opened again and more uniformed officers continued to pour into the gymnasium one after another. They spread out silently along the back and side walls until forty three police officers stood shoulder to shoulder forming a solid line of dark blue surrounding the audience.
The officers stood at strict attention with their hats removed and fixed their eyes respectfully on my son as he momentarily froze in absolute shock. In a soft and rough voice Ray Delgado began singing the words to my husbands Saturday morning song and the other officers slowly joined their voices together to carry the familiar melody. Caleb let out a breathless sob of pure relief and resumed playing his guitar with renewed strength while the deeply moving chorus of forty three police officers filled the entire middle school gymnasium. When the final chord faded away every person in the room leaped to their feet in thunderous applause while the officers stood perfectly straight and offered my son a crisp military salute. Caleb returned their salute with a trembling hand before rushing down the stairs to collapse into my arms where he finally released three years of built up agony in heavy and gasping sobs. After we shared that necessary and healing embrace Caleb walked over to his godfather Ray Delgado and hugged him tightly signaling the beautiful end of our long and lonely isolation.