For those of you that don’t know, a Salt River officer by the name of Clayton Townsend was killed about a week ago; he was struck by a driver who was texting and driving.
Clayton and I were old friends. In my high school days, a good friend of mine (I’m not going to name names for privacy’s sake) had a friend, and he wanted us to all hang out. And so we did. I met a gentleman by the name of Clayton Townsend, an incredibly nice guy that I always enjoyed my time with. The 3rd friend, Clayton, and I always had the best of times, running around town as kids with their fresh driver’s license did.
However, as time passed, we grew apart. As a matter of fact, all 3 of us grew apart, just as time seems to do with many friends. We started to hang out less and less, and the deletion of his social media accounts finalized my last interactions with Clayton, around 6-7 years ago.
It was only 2 weeks ago that I thought about Clayton; someone came up on me in a lifted truck with extremely bright lights – Clayton’s truck had THE brightest lights. There was one point that we were driving and I said to him “aye, are your brights on?” He replied with a simple “no”, and turned on his brights to reveal headlights that I can’t imagine be any brighter. This memory ran through my mind merely 2 weeks ago, and I wondered what he was up to.
A week later, I read that he had passed away in the tragic accident. I couldn’t believe it, but it was true.
Fast forward to today, the day of his funeral. I debated what I was going to do, as I had to honor his life, his family, and his commitment to the blue line. Though I consider him an old friend, I didn’t know him well enough to go to his funeral. Would I stand atop the freeway and watch his procession? This is when an idea struck me.
My best memory with Clayton and friend #3 was an evening that we went fishing. We made a spontaneous trip to Lake Pleasant and tried our hand in attempt to catch some fish. None of us knew what we were doing, and we didn’t catch a single fish, but we still had the best of times.
Photo Credit: Servants of Valor
I decided that I’d go fishing to honor Clayton and that great memory. I’d go to my local fishing hole and try to catch some fish, though this time I sort of knew what I was doing.
All of the conditions were against me, however. Cloud cover was heavy with light rain, and wind gusts were variable but heavy. Not to mention, I forgot my main tackle box, and didn’t have any of my go-to bait, but I wouldn’t falter.
I decided to fish for the time of his procession – roughly 7:30-9:30. If I were to catch anything, this would be plenty of time to do so.
I arrived to be the only the only person on the water – typical with such rough conditions. I tied on, baited up 2 rods, threw out, and waited.
I continued thinking previous times with Clayton, like the time he welcomed me to his house. At this point, we had only hung out a few times, but he had no problem welcoming into his home. We all sat and watched motocross, though I knew little-to-nothing about it, I was simply there for the good company.
I was fighting the wind that had now become constant. I hadn’t a single bite yet, but I was okay with that. At the end of the day, I wasn’t there to catch fish.
We sat out on a point on Lake Pleasant and threw our lines out aimlessly. I was throwing a Castmaster, trying to get as much distance away from the bank as possible. Looking back, this was a terrible lure/method choice.
It was about 8:30AM; the procession was roughly halfway through. The weather had become colder and windier, but the light rain had stopped. Suddenly, my monofilament started to twitch…
We stopped fishing late into the night. None of us had a single bite and we finally gave up. We packed our things into the truck and headed back into town…
I picked up my rod, watching the twitch continue. I wanted the line to run off the spool, as I didn’t want to lose this fish. Sure enough, line started to peel off the spool, and I set the hook…
We got back to the house and we all just stood around talking. This was our end-of-the-night ritual; we would just reminisce about random topics, often times for hours…
This was not a small fish. The fish on the end of my line was not only far out, but it was running towards me as well – a nightmare for an angler, especially with monofilaments stretchiness. I started reeling like a madman, hoping to catch the slack.
Well, I not only caught the slack, but I caught the fish. This was not any old fish, but perhaps one of the top 3 biggest, most beautiful trout I’ve ever caught. I couldn’t believe it. I’d gone over an hour without a single nibble, and now I had a good sized trout in my possession.
This was not any old fish, this was a fish for Officer Clayton Townsend. This was a fish for Trooper Tyler Edenhoffer. This was a fish for Officer David Glasser. This was a fish for all of the fallen officers that we have lost across the country.
I stayed for about another hour, still in disbelief about the fish. I shouldn’t have caught this fish, but I did. All of the elements were against me, but I managed. It was as if there was influence from above…
I want to conclude this post by giving my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Officer Townsend. I’m not much of a praying man, but you all are in my thoughts and prayers.
I’d also like to mention that there are multiple ways that we all can help out.
First, DO NOT use your phone and drive. I don’t care whether you’re texting, looking for music, talking on the phone, or whatever. Get off the phone and drive safely. Because of this, we lost a great man, a friend, a son, a father, and a husband.
Next, there are multiple ways that you can donate to the Townsend family. A great company by the name of Servants of Valor has created a product line devoted to Officer Townsend, of which all proceeds will be given to the family. The line includes a shirt, hat, and sticker (I’ve already purchased a hat). You can also donate to the 100 Club, an organization that gives money to the families of fallen first responders.
Last, but certainly not least, go thank an officer. These men and woman put their lives on the line each and every day for our safety, and a simple thank you can go a long way, possibly turning a bad day into a great one.
Photo Credit: Servants of Valor