The View from the Stern

I didn't know that I dealt with grief by wanting to write until 14 minutes ago. I usually don't care much for writing. I find my self unmotivated most of the time I force myself to do it, and rarely get any sort of drive to put my thoughts onto paper just off the cuff (most of the time they are truly not worth the effort. No really. Today I seriously laughed out loud thinking about penguin dicks and what they might look like.)  But I'm having trouble tonight, and I HAVE to write. It's not unlike the days when I made my last 2 posts and I'm not a detective but I see a pattern. So, if you're not in the mood for a little indulgent emoting on my part, I would understand if you wanted to go back to twitter or facebook or xvideos.
But please don't. Not yet.
Christopher Dorner has become a household name in the past 2 weeks. His violent campaign against the authorities in Southern California has left a population on edge, the conspiracy theorists on Facebook frothing and several families destroyed. He has become celebrated amongst some of the more ignorant, stupid and heartlessly cynical members of our population. We will hear his name until the day we die.
Jeremiah MacKay will never be a household name. He served with the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department for 15 years and had 2 kids according to the articles I can find about him. They're all based on the same information his Department released earlier. No one other than those he came into direct contact with him will remember his name. Hell, many of those who met him won't remember him. I know because I almost didn't.
When the news first broke about 2 SBSD deputies being shot by Dorner, I was concerned. During my years working on my father's Sportfishing boat I had fished with a group of about 30 of the men and women of the San Bernardino Sheriffs at least 15 times. That's almost 3 weeks with them, since many of their trips were 1 1/2 day trips. One of them attended my wedding. They are great people. When I found out that one of the deputies shot was DOA from someone within the department I began to dread. When Jeremiah MacKay's name was released I didn't recognize it and began to hope it wasn't one of our guys.
When my friend told me that Jeremiah had indeed fished with us, my heart sank.
When I saw his picture it broke.
I didn't know Jeremiah MacKay's name because I knew him as Dennis the Menace.
I remember him wearing sunglasses and sweatpants. I remember him leaning against a rail talking with another of my favorite deputies, who I remember as Chris. I remember handing him blue trash bags stuffed with fillets at the top of the ramp. Memory is pretty cruel when it comes to giving us clear pictures of those we haven't seen in years, but I'm glad I have something to remember him by.
He deserves it. So does Officer Michael Crain, Keith Lawrence and Monica Quan.
Please remember them.