Some stories seem to write themselves. Others take as much effort as climbing Monocacy Hill on roller skates.

One of the stories that had me on the struggle bus for weeks turned out to be one of the most rewarding pieces I’ve written.

In spring 2019, Jim Demsko, then a member of the Reading Police Department’s Major Evidence Team, invited me to an IM Inclusive Fitness class conducted by the IM ABLE Foundation. Demsko served as an instructor alongside other Berks County police officers and community volunteers at the Corps Fitness gym on Park Road in Wyomissing.

The participants, children and adults with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other conditions, looked forward to gathering twice a week to exercise with their friends.

Demsko explained, for many, the classes provided a welcome opportunity to get out of the house and spend time with people who genuinely cared about them.

It wasn’t the kind of story I typically covered on the crime beat, and it was in the evening, no less.

I watched as the session began with Chris Kaag, a disabled Marine Corps veteran who founded the IM ABLE Foundation in 2007, calling out military cadence from his wheelchair at the center of the room.

That was the easy part.

Writing the story was another matter.

I couldn’t find a way to begin it, so I set it aside. With no editor waiting for it and no deadline attached, my notes and recordings sat untouched for weeks. What finally helped me get over the hump was focusing on a single goal: conveying the class’s energy and joy.

Then everything fell into place.

I pitched the story to an editor at exactly the right moment. They needed a front-page feature.

It opened it with an observation: When you walk into the IM fitness classes, one of the first things you notice is that just about everyone is smiling.

One of those smiling faces, captured by Ben Hasty’s camera, belonged to “Officer Bob,” then-Spring Township Detective Robert Long.

Like Demsko, the contrast between those fitness sessions and Long’s day job could not have been more striking.

“I love it,” Long told me during a break. “You can’t come in here and not smile.”

My mind immediately went back to that photograph and quote when I learned that Long was recently honored by Crime Alert Berks County as its 2026 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.

Some years, Crime Alert President Rick Periandi told me, the award recognizes a single heroic act. Other years, it goes to someone whose long-term commitment has strengthened both the organization and the community.

Long, now a lieutenant, fit the latter description. Periandi said Long has served for years on Crime Alert’s advisory board and helped establish a scholarship fund.

Well deserved, Officer Bob.

This column has a sad footnote. I along with many others who knew him was saddened to learn that Kaag, an amazing man whose positive, can-do attitude was inspirational, died Wednesday at age 50.