Month: March 2026

Each year the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has a reunion in Laughlin, Nevada. It is attended by nearly a thousand retirees of which Ray is one. Here is his story in his own words.

There are so many attendees at the reunion, (which lasts for 3 ½ days) that it is impossible to know everyone or to even spend time with everyone I do know. At this reunion each year is John Jones. (Name Changed). John is one of those people that disgusts me and I prefer to never be around. I go out of my way to avoid this person. He is a non-entity to me and I have zero respect for this man.

During my time working detectives on the Sheriff’s Department, John was assigned to work burglaries. John was one of those people who was a “do nothing”. He did not work his cases, we caught him throwing cases into the waste basket and ignoring good leads that would bring a successful conclusion to a case. Things were so bad with John and his behavior so poor that we worked to have John removed from the unit and hopefully terminated from the Department.

My partner went so far as to bring allegations to the attention of the Lieutenant we worked for. He eventually testified against John at a civil service administrative hearing. As a result, John was given a suspension and removed from the unit but not terminated from the Department.

At our annual reunions, just the sight of John sickened me.

When Danielle and I were first married, I invited her to accompany me to the reunion. I was eager for her to meet my old friends and see a part of my life she had not been apart of before. I spent time telling her about the wonderful people I had worked with over my 34 year career and my hopes of her meeting these friends.

The day finally arrived and we traveled from New Mexico to Nevada and on Sunday afternoon we walked into the large room which would accommodate us. We had a marvelous afternoon as I introduced Danielle to old friends and she listened so many of the stories we would recount.

At one point, Danielle excused herself from the table to get some refreshments and as she returned I saw her with John in tow. She was pulling him by his hand towards our table. My heart sunk. What the heck was she doing with him? As she neared the table, she was saying, “look who I found, someone who worked where you worked.” She asked me if I knew him and of course I replied that I did. Danielle was so pleased with herself and happy that to save her from embarrassment I reached out my hand to John and said hello. He sheepishly shook my hand.

I went through the normal pleasantries of how was he doing, where was he living, what was he doing with himself. All the while Danielle was so proud of herself believing she had found one of my old friends.

As we were talking, John asked if he could talk to me privately. We stepped a few feet away from the table and it was then that John explained that he wanted to apologize for his behavior years before. He went on to say that he had been experiencing some personal problems, had developed a drinking problem, had attended a twelve step program and was now dealing with his own alcoholism and with his son’s. He said he had seen my name published in the Star News, a monthly Sheriff’s Department publication that goes out to all current and retired members of the Department. My name is listed as a contact for anyone needed help with alcoholism.

As John spoke, I felt my heart opening. For the first time I saw John as a human being. He was honest, open and forthright about his past. He asked if I could forgive him. As my heart continued to open, I began to feel love for this man and actually had a tear come to my eye.

I remember putting my hand on his shoulder and then on his cheek as I thanked him for talking with me. I even gave him my personal contact information so he could send me his e-mail information and I could put him on the mailing list for the monthly newsletter I write to several hundred cops and firefighters in recovery from alcoholism. We both parted with smiles on our faces.

I often refer to Danielle as an angel sent by God to me. In this case I really did believe that was who she was. She certainly was the catalyst that started this process of forgiveness with John.

As I reveled in the circumstances that had just occurred, I continued to process the events that had transpired. As I reflected on all that had happened, I was reminded that there were certain cases of mine that I had worked where my diligence in solving a case could have been called into question. I had no business continuing to harbor resentments when my house was not always in order.

I will always (and I do mean always) be thankful to God and to his angel Danielle for the precious moments I spent with John. I will treasure them in my heart.

Both Danielle and John have since passed away but their lesson for me is not forgotten.

When I met Danielle, my life changed forever. It seems I had finally found what had eluded me for so many years. And with that came a whole new perspective on life.

For one thing singing and dancing had become a part of my life I had not envisioned. Danielle is very musically inclined. She plays both folk and classical guitar, plays a decent piano, and recently completed classes to play the ukulele.

On one of our trips, shortly after getting married, we talked of finding a way to work with people that had been forgotten. Often the elderly lived alone or in an assisted living home. Danielle to them as “the throw away people.” People who were often forgotten by family and friends.

We discussed how we might create a ministry to support these people. An idea began to form as we thought of our love of music and singing. We thought of putting together a performance that would bring some fun and joy to others. Maybe we could put together a show that would include a few familiar hymns along with some contemporary classic songs. We would include some humorous stories along with the cowboy poetry I liked to recite. And that’s how it began.

Our first show was for an old friend, Biddie McMath. I first met Biddie when I was looking for a book her husband had written many years before about the history of the town of Mountainair, New Mexico. I was in the process of moving from Los Angeles to New Mexico and was interested in the local history. Through a bit of investigation I was able to get in touch with Biddie via email and that began a wonderful relationship that has gone on with her and her husband Gorden for many years. She and Gorden were so gracious in sharing their memories and the history of this tiny town of 984 people. Both had been born in the area and each, now in their eighties, had a rich knowledge of the local history. After moving to town, Biddie and I spent many hours discussing her history of the area. Gorden was also very accommodating. He had been the county Sheriff and town Marshall before retiring, so we had that law enforcement background in common. Biddie was in her 80’s and Gorden in his 90’s when I met them. They had been married for who knows how many years and had known each other since childhood.

When Gorden passed away, Biddie moved into an assisted living home. I often visited Biddie and it was during one of these visits that I asked her if she would be open to Danielle and I performing and using her and the other residents as guinea pigs for our performance. They enthusiastically agreed and we had our first performance.We sang our hymns and old time songs and told stories. We sang In the Garden, How Great Thou Art, You are My Sunshine, Puff the Magic Dragon and many more.The residents were invited to sing along and they did so in unrestrained voices. The residents were genuinely pleased and praised our performance. We were even invited back. And that’s how we began.

We also began performing at the Bee Hive, a larger assisted living home in the same vicinity.

W so much enjoyed getting together with these wonderful folks. Friendships were developed as we saw these people often during our regular performances. All of the residents got together in a common area where Danielle played the guitar and we both sang together. Ray recited cowboy poetry and humorous stories. Songs like In the Garden and Puff the Magic Dragon were always among the favorites that we sang. Alvin, one of the residents, enjoyed playing his guitar with us as we sang My Darling Clementine. Sadly, Alvin passed away a short time later but not before we had established a great friendship with him.

Ruby and Mary Ellen were two of our favorite residents. Ruby had lived in Mountainair and was actually one of the reasons we started performing at the Bee Hive. She and Mary Ellen were so full of life. They joked and told stories with us and shared other more personal stories from their past. We were often invited into their rooms to talk before or after our performances.

One day we were returning home from Albuquerque after a day of shopping. As we were driving past the Bee Hive we decided to stop and visit with our friends. We didn’t have our instruments with us and were not going there to perform. It was a chance for us to stop and say howdy.

I was most interested in visiting with my friend, George, a U.S. Air Force retiree. George and I had spoken of his experiences traveling around the world but never really had the time to spend more than a few minutes together. As I sat with George during this visit, Danielle was visiting with a group of ladies. It should have come as no surprise that soon Danielle and this group of ladies were singing some of the songs we regularly performed. As they sang I continued talking with George.

George and I concluded our visit and as I walked over to Danielle and her group, she said, the ladies want us to sing. What? I wasn’t prepared to sing, (I thought). I’m still not sure what caused me to do this, but I stopped dead in my tracks and turned my back to the group. I then put my shirt collar up around my neck and turned around again. In an over exaggeration of Elvis Presley, I began to sing The Battle Hymn of the Republic as I had heard Elvis perform it on a recording. I did my best to sing it in his style of vibrato while swiveling my hips. As I sang, I really accentuated the movement of my hips in an effort to be Elvis. These movements were probably more provocative than planned.

As I was doing this impromptu performance and nearing the finish, Mary Ellen covered her eyes and shouted, “I can’t watch this, I’m Catholic!” Ruby, who was sitting next to her, immediately shouted out, “Do it again, do it again!” The room erupted in a huge belly laugh of uncontrolled laughing.

Well, I’ve performed it again on another occasion and Mary Ellen is fine with it as I have toned it down and now we can laugh about it.

Several of these people have passed on but not before enriching our lives as we never could have imagined.