Sometimes it's just a story. another headline flashed on a screen. I recoil for a moment at the incredibly horrible headline and I always feel some level of sadness, but soon I will have moved on to other troubling stories. Our daily news feeds are just full of them, I could spend every waking second reading about some awful occurrence happening to someone somewhere. Yet still they are just stories. That is until the time comes where you know the person in the story. It is only then that you can truly comprehend all that is involved, including so much of what is not reported.
 This past week saw a story flash about a New York City cop being shot and killed. Sadly it is a headline that in and of itself is not that unusual. We have seen so many members of law enforcement perish in the line of duty around our country. Any cop anywhere risks his or her life every day that work, that is a fact. You see pictures of cops saluting, widows crying, kids left without a mother or father.  I've always wondered about those sad scenes, how difficult it must be for all involved. After the past 24 hours I wonder no more. Unfortunately I now know.  For that cop that was killed this past week was a beautiful young man that I'm proud to have called a friend. Losing Brian Mulkeen the way we did was the worst