"The Parting Glass" 
We're gathered here to toast and fete
A cop as good as ever they get.
To celebrate his life and times
Of keeping peace and fight crimes.

He's older, wiser, more white on top
than when he first became a cop.
He's gotten broader in the beam;

There's stress and strain at every seam
'Cause back when he was in his prime,
There were so many donuts and abundance of time.
Still, in his eye, the fire glows;

He's true and blue down to his toes.
Tonight we raise the parting glass
To toast his grace and charm and class.
And Praise "The Job" he did as well

As any has ever and got through to tell.
"The Job," it is dangerous, tough and demanding.
Most of us do it to standards outstanding.
For some it's not easy, for others, too much.

Some get in trouble--use drink as a crutch,
Lose family and future, job and good name;
Become disillusioned, turn cynic, heap blame.
Some disappoint us and tarnish the shield.

Some, to our grief, don't come home from the field.
But it has its rewards and their richness you'll see
At a retirement party where our honoree

Toast a roomfull of people, each one of whom stands
Tall as a redwood and thinks it's just grand
To work as a cop on the beat or the road
With the finest of comrades to help share the load.

This Poem was taken from the book "Constantine's Circus" by Terry O'Neill
by Special Permission of the Author and is copyrighted by Constantine's Circus, Inc.

THAT LAST SUPPER

At the end of every career, there is a gathering to thank and celebrate the individual who is entering retirement. It's an opportunity to sum up the events of that career and to talk about a unique and individual personality and what he or she has meant to the organization.

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