Day 710: 5 Minute Freewrite: Monday - Prompt: dog whistles

The elder of the two Lofton brothers for whom Lofton County had been named had been known, as he was dying, to explain why he could still be cheerful as the day of his death grew near: “What you see depends on what you are looking at, and what you hear depends on who you listen to.”

Henry Fitzhugh Lee, interestingly, had learned that saying not from the Slocum-Lofton side of the family, but from the Lees of the mountains with whom he had been brought up... there was more to the connections between the Lees and the Loftons than was commonly known, for the Lees who had moved into what had become Lofton County knew quite a lot of old Lofton wit...

The point, however, of all that knowledge being passed on was that it was available to be applied … and so, Captain H.F. Lee having awakened in a rare good mood, determined that so far as it lay with him, he was going to hold on to it.

Not that it would be easy, working at police headquarters in Lofton County … his division dealt the grim matter of cold cases, of crimes left unsolved and just left undone for years.

And then, when you had a background of a tendency to depression, two family tragedies, and extremely high-functioning but severe PTSD from 23 years of Army service, things became even more complicated … the world was full of dog whistles, of reminders, of triggers, that others were not affected by, but that could plunge you, if you let them, instantly into a dark place.

But Captain Lee had enough. The 23-year soldier resolved in his mind that he was not a dog – he would not be dragged back, unyielding, into depression. The chemical troubles he had inherited he could do nothing about – but at present, he had stabilized with the correct combination of diet, exercise, recreation, and medicine. His devout Christian faith had been another key mainstay, a steadying force that had held when all else had failed. Yet there were still the thinking patterns, the defenses necessary against allowing himself into the down cycles he was so used to ...

“So far as it lies with me,” he said as he headed out the door to work, “I am going to enjoy this day, in the Lord, with His help, including all the techniques He has allowed me to learn through group and individual therapy. Not everything will be enjoyable, but I am not just going to give in today … not tomorrow, not ever again. No. I will not be dog-whistled out of a full life!”