This week we had to bury a hero. You can google his name and read the news stories, or read his obituary, and learn about his death. And he did die a hero's death. But I want to tell about his life. Because while it is very easy to put him on a pedestal for the way he died, he was heroic also for the way he lived.
Lt Wade Sharp was not perfect. He smoked. He drank on occasion. He cussed. Alot sometimes. He was impatient. He did no suffer fools. He had a failed marriage behind him. He made mistakes. These are all things that made him who he was. And I can tell you that in the 16 plus years that I knew him, I loved who he was, faults and all. He loved his job (most of the time), and hated the politics that goes along with it. He loved his family, and hated the complications that loving a family can bring with it. He bragged on his officers, but never himself. He was proud not only of his children's accomplishments, but of who they were as people. He was an example of how to be a good Law Enforcement Officer and a good father and husband at the same time. It was not always that way, but Wade had fought hard for balance, and had done it in front of the eyes of the whole department. His brother, another officer, blossomed into an excellent single father, and it's my opinion that Wade was at least one example he was following. A husband and wife are supposed to enhance each other. Bring out the best in one another. If you have spent any time around Wade and his wife, you know that they had this part figured out. She told someone recently that she lost her best friend. And that is how a marriage is supposed to be, best friends. Wade worked at that too.
My personal stories of working with Wade are too numerous to tell. My most vivid memories are after Katrina. Wade attempted to drive me home to make contact with my family the evening after the hurricane. We only made it about 3/4 of a mile from town. We tried 3 other routes, taking about 2 hours, never making it to my house. Wade was talking the whole time to keep my mind off of the fact that I did not know how my kids, or home, or anything was. The next night, we tried again, and got about 1 1/2 miles from home and he walked with me through all the trees down, and brush, until we got to my house. It always stayed with me that it was not his responsibility to do that, but he did because he cared. He cared about other people. And he cared enough not to laugh at me when I got lost in my front yard that night, tripped over a tree branch, and cut my forehead. He did not share his flashlight though. Only 1 battery for the whole night, you know!
Lt Wade Sharp worked hard at his jobs. Police officer, father, husband, brother, friend, son, mentor. It does not matter how you knew him. What I would like people to know is that although it was his child with him that morning, I believe that he would have protected any child the same way. I think he would have made the same decision again, if he had to. It's what he did. He was a hero.
