The end of watch for three Pittsburgh police officers came April 4, 2009.
That's the day Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo II died in the line of duty.
They were on a domestic dispute call in a quiet city neighborhood on a sunny Saturday morning.
Their deaths are a grim reminder that there is no such thing as a "routine" police call.
Police officers and their families live every day with that knowledge.
And still -- every day -- police officers everywhere get up, put on their gun belts and badges, and go to work.
We take them for granted.
When we deal with the police, we seldom afford the officers the same respect we demand from them.
But once in a while, some tragedy like this makes us appreciate those men and women.
Right now we are mourning our fallen heroes and reaching out to their families with sympathy.
In time, we will forget their names: Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo.
We will become distracted by the demands of our own lives -- our concern for the officers' families will fade.
Perhaps -- perhaps -- for a little while, we will appreciate the men and women who are willing to lay down their lives for us -- and each other.
Regardless, our police officers will continue to put on their badges, holster their weapons and go to work.
At Thursday's memorial service, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl looked at all the police officers filling the Petersen Events Center and said simply, "I am in awe of you."
We all should be.
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