Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

When friends share their most precious treasures, the universe responds with some of its own. Mistakes are often the garments in which miracles are cloaked. When your loving family and friends sit back and reflect on your most accomplished and fulfilling life, they can't help, Officer Cook, to smile and because of your actions that day you gave up your life, your comrades survived, all because of your unselfishness. Can't say any more than that! Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 25, 2013

Our sincere desire to right a wrong can empower us to scale mountains, cross oceans and create miracles in contemporary times...online. You cannot take back that which is gone. I wish we could bring you back with your family and friends, Officer Cook. I really, really do. But one thing I do know is that by leading our lives with grace personified as you did for twenty-five years, we can show your soul in heaven that your tragic death was snot in vain. They don't make heroes and heroines like you, Officer Cook. You were the epitome of success! Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. You were the voice of calm and reason during stormy times. You were the soothing inspiration behind all aspects of your profession.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 25, 2013

That which love embroiders, neither time nor turmoil can erase. We can't erase, blot out that awful day nearly thirty-four years ago when you gave your life for us on the streets of Liberty City in Miami. If there were such a thing as do overs, then of course things most definitely would be different. The fact will always remain constant: your love for others was perpetual and nothing can erase that fact so help us Dear God. A truly amazing man, a very devoted son, an insightful brother, a loving husband, a terrific uncle and one grand great-uncle was taken from our midst as was a valued and much loved, respected and certainly cherished friend to all. Death may take a love done from this world. But their honor, dignity and creativity along with their persona can't be taken. What you sewed into our hearts and minds, Officer Cook, will always stay together for the ages to serve as your everlasting legacy here in Dade County, Florida. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 25, 2013

Like magnets we are drawn to people and places that will complete us in some special way. Officer Cook, you were that magnet who only attracted the finest and most quality individuals. You dared to travel where no one would want to go and offered us a glimpse of your truly devotional personality. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero and when the day comes when we draw closer to your vivid soul, pull us the way God has intended for us to travel on His exclusive spiritual journey.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 25, 2013

The breeze of dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doors sill where the two world's touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep. You've earned your eternal rest, Officer Cook. But please know my neighbor, friend and hero that I still regard you in higher circles as does your loving family and peers.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 25, 2013

Everyone has wondrous and not so wondrous events pouring into their lives and may be unaware of them. Some people who misidentify these experiences as pure coincidence, dismiss them as "happenstance," "random," or "just plain luck." We say there is any such thing as coincidence! there are no accidents! These episodes are in fact nothing less than "small miracles," awe-inspiring moments that should be celebrated, lauded and indeed consecrated when they brush against us with their soft angel's wings. These miracles testify to the presence of a Higher Power in our seemingly ordinary lives: these miracles demonstrate the truth that we are all part of a larger organism and somehow interconnected; these miracles illuminate how an invisible hand is always guiding us, gently prodding us toward our destiny. These miracles make us believe that our lives indeed have a purpose and plan behind them. All these miracles that we are privileged to witness in our lifetime, there is no greater phenomenon than the all-powerful, transformative and healing of love. After your life, Officer Cook, that you exemplified in action and good service, we honor you with carrying on with our lives as you would want us to. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. Your tragic passing serves to reinforce the fact that heroes do exist in our society and it is these great men and women such as yourself this make this world a more beautiful place to reside in.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 25, 2013

What the heart remembers, the mind can never displace. We'll always remember your life, Officer Cook and the vim and vigor and vitality that you brought to modern society, to your department and in making this world a safer place for all to achieve. You'll never be displaced by me and I'm just real sorry we never got to meet one another. You probably would have made me laugh my brains out. We care and I know your family and community care and do take a moment in time to look back on your stellar career with the Metro-Dade Police Department. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 25, 2013

Dear friend: Your heart is a polished mirror. You must wipe it clean of the veil of dust that has gathered upon it, because it is destined to reflect the light of divine secrets. First of all, I will always consider you a dear friend and neighbor, because the letter I received from your wonderful mother, Mrs. Julia Cook was sincere and she considered me this even though our families did not know one another even living around the corner from you. Because I met, Justin and Gina and her wonderful family, I will always consider The Cook Family as my special friends for life. You were that diamond, Officer Cook, who did not need much polishing, because you were a very humble and special person and public servant to Dade County, Florida citizens. We do not know what you are doing in heaven now, but can can surmise that it is pretty special up there and now you are resting in peace with your loving father, Charles, you can interact quite a bit with him and all of your other comrades who loyally served their communities with honor and distinction. Unfortunately, there are officers today who need more than an extra coat of polish on them to straighten them out. How very tragic!

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 25, 2013

Since hearing of the world of love, I have given my life, my heart and my eyes this way., at last, I believed that love and beloved are different. Now, I know they are the ame. I have been seeing two in one. Your life, Officer Cook was both a beloved one and the type of individual and police officer that you were and the duties you carried out were not only believable, but unbelievable in the sense of how you reacted that terrible day on May 16, 1979, when you went to assist on a call that you did not have to go to and laid down your valued life and soul for your colleagues and the two civilians involved. It says a whole lot of your quality and upstanding character. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. The people you serve always deserve quality and professional service of their officers and you, Officer Cook did not misrepresent your badge. Everything you performed was done with, dignity, honor and integrity.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 25, 2013

I climbed up the plum tree and plucked the grapes there; the master of the garden asked angrily; why are you eating my walnuts? I grabbed a sparrow's wing and loaded it on forty ox-carts. All forty were unable to pull it. So it remained stuck there. The words that God speaks are like no other words. Thus He veils their inner meaning from the closed minds of the hypocrites. Officer Cook, you stood up for a just cause and kept up in its pursuit until you knew it was the right moment to stop and let others take responsibility for their actions. Sometimes officers can serve as advisers and we may not be aware, but you were there for Dade County, Florida citizens and they showed up to pay their respects to you for a job well done. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. You were always open-minded when dealing with domestic issues or whatever you had to get a handle on at any particular time. Now that you're in God's beautiful orchard in the sky above I hope you only pick the best produce that God can yield. I know it's only the best where your soul rests.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 24, 2013

If you think the truth can be known from words, if you think that the sun and the ocean can pass through that tiny opening called the mouth, O someone should start laughing! Someone should start wildly laughing-Now! You were known as a happy person, one who could say something funny, Officer Cook and people would start laughing. But, on your job you were obviously a very serious individual, dedicated to weeding out evil. You lived a well balanced life and promoted peace and goodwill among others. You will not be forgotten! Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 24, 2013

I am happy even before I have a reason. I am full of light even before the sky. I can greet the sun or the moon. You grew up in a warm and nurturing home and environment and this is why, Officer Cook you were able to proceed on the path of accomplishment during your twenty-five years of life that Our Creator gave to you. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. You always were a happy individual and cared very much about the welfare of others and you are dearly missed.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 24, 2013

Know, O beloved, that man was no created in jest or at random, but marvelously made and for some great end. If someone sits with me and we talk about the Beloved, if I cannot give his heart comfort, if I cannot make him feel better about themselves and this world, then quickly run to a house of worship and pray- for you have just committed the only sin I know. The one certain thing we all know is that you always gave a superior effort, Officer Cook and will never be forgotten. Certainly your presence would make our hearts grow much fonder of you, but we know for all your sacrifices, you can know rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 24, 2013

Dear God, As I wake up this morning may Your spirit come upon me. May my heart and soul receive your blessings. May I contribute, peace, serve your purposes. Where my body is broken heal every cell and return it to the right placement. My may mouth speak what you would have me say and may my legs walk only in the direction You will them. take away any pain, sickness and fear. bring a true salvation, the only cure. Bless my holy relationships body to body and from soul to soul. Display love and innocence. may the world retrieve its purpose, the divinity of its mission to reflect and to glorify Your love forever. Send miracles to the war zones and to children who are impoverished. May our waters, grounds, hearts and minds be cleansed and made new. May angels' wings be lent to me, that I might fly above the noise and turmoil of the world. Time and fate have twisted things, help to straighten them out. My body, mind, spirit, love, hate, pain, sorrows, joy, questions, fears, hopes, and my visions I give them all to you. bless the ones who have no hope and show me how to help. Bless all of our law enforcement officials and all fallen officers like you, Officer cook, who stood ready and waiting to make the supreme sacrifice so that our ideals and adventures could be achieved in the name of the Lord. Amen

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

The strongest, surest way to the soul is through the flesh. The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves. But we're not satisfied with what we ourselves have learned about the world and ourselves. We're always waiting for a stranger to come and tell us something more. And 'something more" means "the rest of it," and that's what we need most, we miss it. So, go ahead, stranger!....tell her what she or he is beyond what they already know they are, their lives, their years, their great expenditures of themselves, what of themselves is honey and what is gall on their tongue, the hunger they have and the hunger they see. You can live a lifetime and at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself. We fed our hearts on fantasies, the heart's grown brutal from the fare, more substance in our enmities than in our love. Each relationship you have with another person reflects the relationship you have with yourself. As for me, I know of nothing else but miracles. If only miracles could have brought you back with us, Officer Cook. The honey that dripped off your lips, the way you addressed people is the legacy by which you'll always be remembered, because this is how you were taught by your loving parents. Your marriage to Karen was based on a sacred trust, loyalty and honor as was the friendships you forged at your department. Nothing will ever take away your accomplishments and the accolades this day and forevermore that are due to you for the excellent and outstanding service you provided Dade County and its citizens. You were as we say in Jewish a "mensch." Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. "A Man Among Men" and "A Hero Through and Through."

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good and we must hunger after them. In the calm water of the love nights, where you were conceived, where you have conceived, a strange feeling comes over you when you see the silent candle burning. No longer caught up in the obsession of darkness, a desire for higher love-making sweeps you upward. Finally distance does not make you falter; flying, soaring, arriving in magic and insane for the light, you are the moth and you are gone. And so long as you do not accept this truth and be willing to die, so that you might live, you will always walk this dark earth a troubled guest alone. There comes a time when we aren't allowed to know. sometimes God's most hidden secrets are the ones best left up to the Creator and when the time is right to know them, then He will tell us in His own way. We have to try and accept, though we don't fully comprehend why, Officer Cook, you were taken from our midst at such a young age. To say "only the good die young" doesn't always seem to suffice for an explanation. Decades after your untimely death, we are still left to ponder these reasons, any plausible reason as to why you left this world. But, decades later, thirty-four years later you're still regarded as a hero and there is no disputing the fact of your unselfish act that saved your fellow officers and those two civilians, one of which was the girlfriend of the young man who took your life. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero and may your beautiful soul soar higher than an eagle.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

I am not afraid....I was born to do this. Connections are made slowly, sometimes they grow underground. The need to find meaning...is as real as the need for trust and love, for relations with other human beings. The day you were born, a ladder was set up to help you escape from this world. Let us not fear the hidden. Or each other. It is tragic that some gifts have to be made so costly. Love is short, forgetting is long and understanding longer still. Now for some heart work. We find what we search for-or if we don't find it, we become it. You were born to protect us, Officer Cook and now that you took up the cause of the citizens, you can ascend God's heavenly ladder to His glorious kingdom where perfection can be achieved with your other comrades who like you participated in protecting others and in making this land a safer haven for all. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

All our acts have sacramental possibilities. Think of the inside of your house as your soul and the outside architecture as something like your bone structure, your genetic inheritance...Our true home is inside each of us and it is your love of life that transforms your house into your home. You exhibited a genuine love of life, Officer Cook and a passion to want to assist other sin making them feel secure in ho they were. Karen and yourself took the bonds of holy matrimony to a higher level each and every day of your beloved lives. The church where you prayed was an extension of your wonderful home as was the department where you befriended so many officers and personnel from all walks of life. Your senses were keen and nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul. You stressed fairness and justice for all and this was your mantle. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. You elevated others by elevating yourself.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

Sorrow fully accepted brings its own gifts. For there is alchemy in sorrow. It can be transmuted into wisdom, which, if it does not bring joy, can yet bring happiness. The only happiness such a tragic event could deliver to us is knowing that the memories are always there to share and we know what your cherished soul is doing at all times of the day and night. Loss as muse. Loss as character. Loss as life. We lost a fantastic person when you departed this world, Officer Cook, but we sure know you are still looking out after our best interests. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

Razors pain you; rivers are damp; acids stain you; and drugs cause cramps. Guns aren't lawful; nooses give; gas smells awful; you might as well live. Officer Cook, if you only knew the suffering that those of us experience over your tragic passing. But we do know we will see you one day in the near future. For now, rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them. Officer Cook, you never expected a free handout from anyone, God forbid. You were not raised this way, nor was Nancy by your loving parents. I'm sure they worked very hard to assist you and your sister along the way. They made sacrifices to help benefit you. You and Nancy only brought, pride, honor and joy their way and for this you can be sure of the rewards that await you. How very proud your mother, Mrs. Julia Cook, must be of you and in her letter to me, stated this. You are missed very much today and as I've said before were the darling of everyone's eye who is now and forever in our hearts and minds to offer a little prayer over. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. Through both your hard work and that of your beloved parents you made dreams become reality.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

Every spirit builds itself a house and beyond its house, a world, a heaven. Know then that world exists for you. The world today that we eat, breath, sleep and live in is safer because of heroes and heroines such as you, Officer Cook. From smart, humble beginnings comes greatness and ingenuity. These were some of the hallmarks of your storied police career with the Metro-Dade Police Department. There are homes you run from and homes that you run to. You had three homes in Florida: in North Miami Beach, Florida where you grew up. The second was with Karen in the Norwood Section of North Miami, Florida and thirdly, where you worked as a police officer for six solid years of very credible and honorable service to Dade County and for its citizens. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

The blessings for which we hunger are not found in other places or people. These gifts can only be given to you by yourself. They are at home in the hearth of your soul. You may be gone from us, Officer Cook, but the blessings you so bestowed upon us remain as part of your living legacy, enduring to all. May you rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

This the hour of lead, remembered, if outlived, as freezing persons recollect the snow-first chill, then stupor; then the letting go. We let go of you, Officer Cook, physically so your soul could ascend God's heavenly ladder to heaven, but all the wonderful and pleasant memories of your life are always going to be here and shared forever. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 23, 2013

The spiritual journey is one of continually falling on your face, getting up, brushing yourself off, looking sheepishly at God and taking another step. Why indeed must "God" be a noun? Why not a verb-the most active and dynamic of all? Faith is the centerpiece of a connected life. It allows us to live by the grace of invisible strands. It is a belief in a wisdom superior to our own. Your life and that of Karen's, Officer Cook was predicated on one universal and unifying theme, "Faith." never one to lack ideals and beliefs you put God in charge of your valued lives daily and were able to soak up more meaning in why you were motivated to achieve success in your varied professions. It's never too late-in fiction or in life-to revise. You always knew Officer Cook if you took this road, it would lead you to promises beyond your wildest expectations. You were a grand person and are just that in God's kingdom as you rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013