Phyllis Middleton tells all: How FATE worked in my life

How FATE worked in my life.

It was suggested that I should write about what I know best. I call it my other life. Crime. Cops. Death. Investigations. Crime Scenes and Crafts! Yes, Crafts.  So my topic is about FATE…how my life was guided by it.

Let’s go back in time…like 40 years ago. I wanted to work for the airlines and spent my senior year going through an airline training program where I completed the program doing my residency in Kansas City, MO. As FATE would have it, I was visited by the FBI while there and within two months I reported to Washington, DC to become the newest member of the FBI card filing team. Within 6 weeks there, I continued my training into their fingerprint program and six months later, I was qualified as a fingerprint examiner. Problem was, I hated Washington DC and longed for my home back in Colorado.  At eighteen – let’s call it what it really was…homesickness. I quit and moved back.

I then applied to every airline and the local law enforcement authorities. I decided that whoever gets me first that is the career I will follow. I answered the call of FATE.  Within six months, The Pueblo County Sheriff’s office hired me as a civilian into the newly created Crime Lab/Scene – primarily the fingerprints field. Over the years, I learned all aspects of our Crime Scene Investigations Department, becoming an expert in courts for fingerprints, and learning all the other aspects. I was noted to be the first woman patrol officer Pueblo County ever had.

I never really had the low-keyed police life that some officers were blessed to experience. I’ve been shot at, held hostage, and had a boatload of fights over the years. I also had experiences that not many can boast about…how about leaning out the door of a helicopter taking aerial photographs? Or while at a bar fight on New Years Eve a drunk decided to take me for a spin on he dance floor – in uniform!  I spent 36 hours in the Colorado Mountains searching for a lost little boy – good news, we found him alive.  I was also slated to be on the Colorado Disaster Response Team, and I later became a Police Instructor. 

I few years later I joined the Denver Coroner’s Office as one of six Senior Criminal/Civil Investigators, becoming Colorado Certified Death Scene Investigator.  I handled on average 600 deaths a year…just me. The other 5 handled the remaining 3200 deaths occurring in Denver,

So FATE?  Guess what I do now?  I teach writers about Crime and Death Scenes, getting them right and realistic. I’ve help authors with their writings and have been surprised by their acknowledgements in their books. Cool stuff.

Funny how things come together.

My play life included all sorts of craft making. Currently, my biggest passion in crafts is jewelry. The more bling, the better! But I also make wreaths, work with clay, paint with acrylics, and fix just about anything. When I am making jewelry, my mind drifts off to my writing and how to work out a scene or dialogue.  I call it my ‘therapy session with my muse’.

And what about my working for the airlines? I did eventually work as a ticket and gate agent for a defunct airlines named Western Pacific and United after I ‘retired’ from law enforcement.  I hated it! 

Just another sign…I was FATED for a life of crime…of sorts.

So, how did FATE affect your life?