Maureen Boyle's Blog, page 3

Remember the life of Chief Adams

Remember a life lost.

December 4 marks the anniversary of Saxonburg (Pennsylvania) Police Chief Greg Adams' murder, a day the community can never forget. It was on that day the chief made a "routine" car stop in this quaint and close community, just blocks from the police station downtown. But police officers will tell you there are no routine stops. Small, safe towns are not immune to random violence.

On this day in 1980, when the Adams family was preparing for Christmas just weeks away, a Massachusetts man wanted for skipping out on court in New York and apparently was scoping out a jewelry store in town, changed the course of a community.

Donald Webb killed the chief and became a wanted man for decades.

The killer was finally found in 2017, decades after the murder, but the pain and loss felt by the chief's family and the community still lingers.

Remember the chief's life today, remember all that was lost that day and remember all of the investigators who refused to give up the effort to find the killer.

The killer took away a community leader, a top law enforcement official and, most tragically, a father and husband.

Pause on the anniversary of his death Saturday and remember his life.

Pause and remember what could have been.

Pausing to remember

The raindrops at a funeral are the tears of angels, mourning the dead but welcoming their souls to heaven.

That was a sentiment shared by my grandmother, my mother and my aunt over the years as we trudged through a muddy cemetery in Connecticut or queued up to pay respects at a wake. The line by my mother and aunt was something like "the angels are crying because a good person has died." My grandmother didn't speak English so I assume her version was much more lyrical as all things before a family's very rough translation usually are.

I think about the saying, though, on days of mourning and holidays marked to honor the dead. I think about how so many Memorial Day "holiday" weekends are chilly and grey.

To many, Memorial Day marks the traditional start of summer, the meaning of the holiday lost in the flurry of sales and backyard parties. In the years of rain, the meteorologists lament the rain washing out the celebrations, the fun, the getaways.

To those schooled in history, Memorial Day is a time to remember those who fought in wars, the lives cut short in battles forgotten. It is a time to remember those who died in the Civil War, when the day was called "Decoration Day", and those lost in all the wars that followed. It is a time to pause and reflect.

It is a rainy New England weekend this year - on May 30, what was traditionally Memorial day, and on May 31, when it is "celebrated." I like to think the angels are crying