10/18/2025
Mr. Officer, what’s gonna happen to me now? I don’t wanna go with strangers.” I was five when I said that to James Miller. Our kitchen caught fire, and my parents didn’t make it out before he showed up. I was hiding under the table when he found me. He lifted me up, wrapped me in his jacket, and said, “You’re safe now, buddy.” James told me later he wasn’t ready to be a dad — but he couldn’t walk away either. He said he’d check on me for a few days, but those days turned into weeks, and then I never left. He taught me how to ride a bike, how to shake a hand, how to show up when someone needs help. Watching James put on that badge every morning made me want to do the same. Now we work side by side in the same precinct — the man who saved me, and the son who followed his steps.
