She knew the route to the library well. The journey was less than two miles, and on a pleasant day she could manage it on foot if she stopped occasionally to rest. But the badge was irreplaceable, and she feared dropping the velvet case or leaving it somewhere by mistake.
So she made a plan.
She would place the case inside a brown paper bag, take the short bus ride downtown, stop at the hardware store for a new picture hook, and then walk two blocks to the heritage center.
The picture hook was for her husband's photograph.
Its old nail had loosened.
She wanted the photograph properly secured before her son arrived for the weekend, though she didn't know he'd be coming that afternoon.
On Wednesday evening, the general called his mother.
She was sitting beside the telephone, examining the badge.
"How's my favorite lady?"
She smiled.
"Better now that my boy remembered his mama."
He laughed.
"I called Sunday."
"That's four days ago."
"Mama, it's Wednesday."
"Exactly. Four days."
They laughed together.
Then he asked about the heritage center.
She explained the exhibition and how carefully the volunteers planned to display the badge.
He listened.
For a moment, his voice softened.
"Dad would've liked that."
She nodded, even though he couldn't see her.
"I think so too."
He asked whether she needed anything.
She told him no.
Then she hesitated.
"Actually, sweetheart, I wanted to ask you something."
"Anything, Mama."
"Do you think your father would've been upset if I let people borrow his badge?"
Her son was quiet.
Then answered gently.
"He would've asked whether the display helped somebody remember why he served."
The widow smiled.
"That's exactly what I thought."
He continued.
"And he would've told you to make sure they returned it."
She laughed.
"Oh, that sounds like him."
They spoke for another twenty minutes.
About the weather.
The garden.
The price of groceries.
And the granddaughter who was preparing for her final year of high school.
The general didn't mention that he had arranged leave to travel to Millhaven after attending a military commemorative event nearby.
He wanted to surprise his mother.
He'd already spoken with a family friend about arranging dinner, and his daughter had sent a small gift to be delivered to the house.
He had no idea that his decision to arrive early would place him on the sidewalk at the precise moment his mother needed him most.
The police sergeant's Thursday had begun badly.