A tall handsome man in uniform

September 2001
On Saturday morning, I was trying to get the house ready for company on Labor Day. Jacob was playing with our kindergarten-aged neighbor, Georgie, and Jerra. At one point they were checking out Pokemon cards, then the boys started to chase Jerra. They were laughing and Georgie has a contagious giggle that permeated the whole house. I could hear Jerra running from the boys and the door to the bathroom close as she sought a moment of relief from her little tormentors.

I walked into the living room to check on them and there stood Jacob with a look of disbelief on his little face. He had the cordless phone in his hand. I asked him who he had called and he said," The lady on the phone said they were sending someone right over to check on me".

This did not bode well, so I asked again, whom he had called. He lowered his head and answered "911".

Even though it was a cleaning day, I have no idea where the phone book might be so that I can call the police and tell them everything is all right. After taking the phone from Jake and putting him in his room, there was no way to contact 911 without re-dialing 911 - so I waited for the policeman. It did not take very long. From call to arrival was less than two minutes.

The policeman had to be about 6'3" and when I greeted him in the driveway explaining what had happened, he asked to speak to Jacob. We walked into the house and he waited in the living room. I called Jacob, telling him that the policeman wanted to talk to him. Jerra, Georgie, and I all stood at the back of the room while Jacob walked over to the policeman.

The office towered over Jake, and he asked Jacob what he had learned about emergencies and 911 in school. Jacob answered that emergencies where when someone stole your things, or there was a fire, or someone was dead ( pretty astute for Jake!). The officer nodded in agreement. Then he leaned down and in a voice no louder than a whisper, he asked Jacob, " When your sister locks herself in the bathroom, is that an emergency?"

Jake answered no as he turned very pale. Then the officer stood upright and said now that they understood one another, Jake could call him if there was a real emergency and needed help, but only then. Jake nodded in agreement and the officer gave him "5" on the way out the door.

Jacob then turned his attention back to us, the color returning to his cheeks and said, " I though I was going to jail!"