Aidyn Sharrow loves the sound of sirens, and he dreams of one day being able to use them to make an arrest.
"He says he wants to be a police officer so he can go arrest the bad guys," says Aidyn's father, Kevin Sharrow.
And Tuesday, Aidyn did make an arrest. At a training traffic stop. He also got to handcuff another "bad guy."
"It's incredible," says his father, "just the smile on his face puts a smile on mine."
Those smiles are important for a family that has been having a tough time with their son's leukemia.
Kevin says: "we found out about Aidyn at the beginning of May last year. They started treatment right away, and today he is in maintenance and will have two more years of maintenance."
Maintenance means that Aidyn is taking medicine at home and only has to go to the doctor once a month, down from multiple times a week.
The day was provided by the Rainbow Connection, a nonprofit organization in Michigan dedicated to granting wishes of children with life threatening illnesses. When they heard about Aidyn's dream, they wanted to give him the chance to see what it's like to be an officer.
"To have the ability to come down and spend time with these people that were willing to subject themselves to pushups and jumping jacks and anything at the command of a 5-year-old little boy was tremendous," says Greg Anderson of the Rainbow Connection.
Aidyn was sworn in as an honorary state trooper, he took a trip in a helicopter, and also got to lead the march to the cafeteria. But the most important thing about the day? He and his family got to make great memories.
"I think, for both of us," explains Kevin Sharrow, "the greatest part of the day is going to be the memories that we brought back."
Memories that will hopefully last a long lifetime for Aidyn.
