Horace Fitzhugh Lee had taught his grandson Henry well.

“Any fool can pretend he is unhurt and unmoved by the incidences that tire all men. But remember: our Lord, God in the flesh, slept when He in His earthly walk was tired and ate when He was hungry. Therefore, the true spiritual courage for a man is the courage to know when to stop, rest, and when necessary, graciously ask for and receive help.”

The grandson was a man of 45 when this came back to mind, 23 years of brilliant Army service behind him, in the midst of a stunning career as a police officer, and going through a day that would try the sanity of any man – as a result, his blood pressure was skyrocketing and his blood sugar was crashing because he had been all over the place in town, only to return to his office at police headquarters to sit for 30 minutes in the presence of a witness leaching garlic from every pore and orifice, in the worst way, on one of the hottest late summer days there had been in Big Loft, VA.

Captain Henry Fitzhugh Lee of Big Loft's police force remembered his grandfather's instruction as his division's Lieutenant Lightfoot looked into his face with deep concern.

“Sir, you were green a moment ago, but you're flushing profoundly, and you're wobbling a little – may I please walk you over to the infirmary?”

“Yes, Lieutenant, I think that would be best.”

Nurse Gentry was a kind woman in her middle fifties who reminded Captain Lee of his Lee grandmother Linda … he began to relax immediately, even before she said, “Think of something relaxing … take yourself somewhere in your mind … a little vacation ...”

Captain Lee closed his eyes … and he was away, on a ferry in New York Harbor, his late wife Vanessa young and beautiful at his side, their son kicking happily inside of her, on a bright day in early spring. Neither of them, having grown up in rural Virginia, had ever experienced anything like that … it was a great thrill, a day of great happiness for them both, so young, so full of hopes and dreams and love, their whole idea of the world and their possibilities expanded. She and their son had gone on to Heaven … but he had been able to reach, to see, to excel … those were the beginnings, the stirrings … it had been one of the happiest days of his life.

Toward the end he had grown sleepy because of watching the sun playing on the water, and he and his wife had stood gently swaying with the gentle rocking of the ferry, in perfect harmony with all things … at last away from all the people who hated them for the love they shared … her dark fingers had intertwined with his marble ones, but not with the squeeze of fear, but the rubbing of deep affection.

Nurse Gentry watched and listened as Captain Lee's blood pressure and heart rate sunk back down into safe ranges. That had been close, but he was so relaxed that when she stuck his finger to take his blood sugar, he only opened one eye, and then nodded … the man was exhausted, half-dreaming, needing that rest. He was also about to pass out from just his blood sugar being so low … and Captain Lee came to himself looking at a tin of candy of the type his Lee grandmother would have had.

“Pick any three, Captain – soft-centered fruit flavors. Crunch them and get them on down.”

“Yes, ma'am.”