Dateline Dayton – Even though Tuesday was Valentine’s Day, we chose to celebrate on the next day to avoid the crowd.

I worked on Tuesday since we were having a pizza party, and that would allow Pauline and me to have breakfast Wednesday morning and then an early supper.

It was a good idea since the restaurant was not busy.

We chose Jay’s Seafood restaurant for our Valentine’s dinner — delicious cuisine and great service. I had wild cod and Pauline went for a crab sampler, which had wild cod, shrimp and lots of split crab legs. I got the half order of cod and helped Pauline with some of her meal. On the way home we stopped for ice cream for dessert.

Epidemics That Haunt

Two epidemics, especially in the Dayton area, are troubling me. I write often about the abuse of children. The other day a beautiful two-year-old boy died at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend.

What a tragedy. Guess what? It was not the first time the boy had been abused by the same person. His family claims they didn’t know it was taking place. That is mere denial, not wanting to get involved since an abuse probe already was under way

Grandma is now saying “If you suspect abuse, report it.”

So why didn’t she protect her grandson by doing what she is now preaching?

Supposedly even the mother didn’t know, which I really find hard to believe.

The child was not the boyfriend’s son, but get this: They have another younger child who is.

These people should not be having children.

I say again: We need licensing. Children’s service organizations are incapable of handling the caseload. We must educate our children on how to raise children, and we are failing. Something must be done to stop the killing!

A girl gave birth at home the other day and dumped the child in the trash, where it was found dead. It is not known if the infant was alive at birth. The girl, not yet found, had said “she did know she was pregnant.”

Hard to believe.

We have, however, heard this story before. Another case of lack of education.

The second epidemic is the eroding support for our police. I know there are bad cops, but the overwhelming number are not. I firmly believe that most police officers want to do a good job and not harm anyone. The suspect being arrested doesn’t want to make it easy for them. If they would just co-operate there wouldn’t be claims of abuse. Instead, they want to fight, to resist.

This causes officers to use some type of force to subdue them. Let’s get behind our police. Show them we appreciate how they risk their lives every day to protect us.

Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net