O'Toole's Corollary of
Finagle's Law:
The perversity of the Universe tends towards a
maximum.
Humans have a deep-seeded need to form relationships with people, animals, and depending on the person, even plants. It's our nature to desire close bonds with people in our lives. Why? Why do we latch onto people so tightly? Humans are mortal, succumbing to The Big Good-Bye. Knowing that, why don't we skip relationships altogether to lead a bleak and marginally fulfilling existence and save ourselves the heartache that will inevitably grip us at some point in our lifetime? There are so many opportunities to get hurt: abandonment, apathy; death has friends equally as malicious. I'm no stranger to that pain. Repeatedly having to experience it has made me shy away from forming lasting relationships. The ones I have made remind me that the time you share together, the stuff between the Hello and the Good-Bye, are worth taking the blows dealt by that ultimate end.
She knows better than anyone that in a matter of moments, this job can take away something that took years to grow. Partly, It's the promise of possibilities and unknowns, the potential for positive outcomes of situations I have yet to find myself in. The other part? Sharing my life, however dull and nerdy she may find it. Finding joy in the simple things, the not-so simple, and everything else in between. It's not easily described, as it's one of those things you just know instinctively. By getting involved with cops, both of us run the risk of having a simple good night, with the promise of seeing each other the next day, turn into a more permanent separation. For the sweet and sour interlude between the beginning and the end, I'm willing to take that risk.