To the editor:
Since January 2014 I’ve worked at the Limestone Police Department part-time as an administrative assistant through a federally-funded program for workers 55 years old and over.
The Chief, Stacey Mahan, and the officers all welcomed me and I set to work, answering phone calls, creating files, requesting background checks for Concealed Weapon Permit applications, learning the filing system, how to use the radio if necessary, and the 101 other things that are done to help the small town department run efficiently. We kidded one another, joked around some, and I played “chief cook and bottle washer” to this group of great men. They really liked the fact that I cooked and baked, and I always had a willing group of taste testers for any recipe I made.
We all had a good time until Dec. 8, 2015. That’s when my life took a huge wrong turn. My husband Thomas was diagnosed with two different forms of cancer, one being stage 4 squamous non-small cell carcinoma of the lung. As many of you can imagine, I was devastated. There had been no symptoms of the lung cancer, until my husband coughed and developed severe upper back pain. The pain was due to a rib that fractured when he coughed.
A trip to Cary Medical Center ER, chest X-ray, then chest CT scan where a mass was discovered in the upper lobe of his left lung with two smaller masses on the bottom lobe of the right lung. He was admitted and two days later he was in the OR having biopsies of the mass in the left lung. The preliminary results of that biopsy, and a biopsy of the prostate done the week before were given to us the morning after the lung biopsy. Both positive for cancer!
I called Chief Mahan and told him, because I knew I was going to need to do some juggling of my work hours for appointments, tests, treatments, etc. Chief Mahan told me “Do whatever you need to Gayle, we’ll be here.” Finally on March 4, 2016, after much soul searching and weighing of pros and cons, I had to make a very difficult decision. I approached the Chief and told him I needed to take a leave of absence as my husband was requiring much more care. He supported my decision, I called the program director and explained my situation and she agreed that a family medical emergency leave would be approved.
Since then, I have learned what the “Thin Blue Line’ really is; and even though LPD uniforms are gray and black, that “Thin Blue Line” is still very strong in this group of men.
These guys have stopped by our house, just to check on us. They have come to the house to help me transfer my husband from the house to the car for Dr. appointments. One officer came with his pickup to take me to buy a recliner to help me make my husband more comfortable, and helped bring it in the house and get it placed. When my husband’s legs just would not support him, and he needed to get up for a while to change position, one officer came to help me get him up and another came to help me return him to the recliner to rest. Two came to help transfer him to the car so we could attend the funeral of his brother who passed away Saturday. Then they came when we returned home to help get him back in our home.
These wonderful men have been there for us every time I have called. They have given us love, support, friendship and understanding. Every time when we have thanked them for their assistance, they always say, “That is what we are here for, Gayle. You are family and we take care of our own.” Even though I don’t wear the uniform or the badge, they have adopted me and made me a member of their ranks.
They have shown us nothing but respect; and I, for one, feel that Limestone has every reason to be very proud of their police force. This group of wonderful men deserves our support, and I am proud to call them all my friends.
I truly do not know where I would find the courage, day after day, to face what I know is coming in my future if it were not for the support, friendship, and understanding I have received from them.
Editor’s note: Gayle’s husband Thomas passed away March 18. As a last measure of respect, his body was escorted from his home to the Giberson-Dorsey Funeral Home in Fort Fairfield by two officers of the Limestone Police Department. The officers and the chief came to this decision on their own, and elected to do this to show their continued respect and support for the MacDougal family.
