It was 11:43 pm.
The street was quiet,
And the streetlights were the only thing allowing us to see each other.

His uniform looked damaged,
His eyes looked droopy,
And his hair looked gray.

The officer who came to my house in the middle of the night to check on me.
He got on his knees,
Got down to my level,
And placed a hand on my shoulder.

What's crazy is he encouraged me to do something illegal.
"Sir. All my life I have wanted to graffiti a building."
And he chuckled...
A warm and melodic sound in the quiet of the neighborhood...

"Then you can't die until you do it, huh?"

And I agreed.
Because he was called to check on me...
Because I was at a dark place in my life.
And he said quietly...

"There have been a lot of suicides in this county... and I have seen every one of them."

And I knew what he meant.
So I nodded.
And he stood up, told me and my mother goodnight, and went on his way.

And that officer will never know the impact he had on my life.

But I'll thank him anyways.