To Serve and Protect

There are so many dangerous jobs in this world.  Accidents happen and result in tragedy.  Most recently, the oil rig workers in the Gulf oil spill.  Most of us go to work each day and never imagine that we may not be coming home.

There are some people whose job requires them to be in the thick of the most dangerous situations.  They have volunteered to put their own life on the line to protect us.  I'm talking about our service men and women, firefighters, and police officers.  These men and women are called upon to respond to situations that everyone else is trying to flee from.

My husband was in the military when we met and spent the first year of our relationship in Iraq.  When my husband came home and his military life was behind him he went on to fulfill his lifelong goal:  become a police officer.  I've been asked a lot over the years how I handle always being worried and my answer is always the same... I try to ignore it.  I tried to keep myself never fully aware of what was going on when he was in Iraq and do the same now.  I trust my husband and know that in intense situations he remains level headed.  I trust that he will come home and don't want to fill my days with needless worry.

Sometimes, something will happen that reminds me of the reality of his job.  Last night, a 24 year old state trooper was shot and killed in the county my husband works in.  I woke up last night at 2:30 in the morning to find that my husband wasn't home.  My first reaction was fear and then I checked my cell phone and saw the text he sent:  an officer was shot.  My second reaction was a mixture of sorrow and relief.  My husband was ok but someone else was not.

I can't put into words how sorry I feel for this officer's family.  I can't put into words how sad I am that we live in a world where someone can take the life of another over something as petty as a tab at a restaurant.  I have struggled since I was 5 years old to understand how it is possible for someone to take another's life and still look in the mirror the next day.  

Today, I ask you to remember all of our emergency responders... EMT's, firefighters, military and police officers.  Remember all of the fallen and keep their families in your heart.