Please send DFD and start an ambulance. Start sending backup. We need everyone running code 3 (lights & sirens). We need Air One (the helicopter) to come to our location."
These are words any cop's wife never wants to hear. As I was playing a card game online, I hear the above statement come out on my scanner. Patrick is working tonight, so my heart plummets. I quickly check online to see if he is on a call..and he is but my site does not provide me too much information about that call, therefore I rely upon my wonderful police scanner to give me the up to date happenings of Oak Cliff at midnight & later. (For those of you who don't know Oak Cliff, it's a horrible area of Dallas where a lot of crime occurs...It's bad...) Anyway, at this point my brain and imagination goes ape wild. I start to wonder, is this the call that Patrick is on?? Is this the same call that is summoning all other units for back up?? And wait! They just said an officer is injured. I text Patrick in a state of worry, panic, fear, concern and in sheer terror. He does not respond. I listen intently to my scanner. I start to imagine what I would do if police officers showed up at my door in the middle of the night to tell me something horrible has happened to my husband. I am freaking out now. I continue listening to the scanner and I'm hearing all the chaos of the scene. I pull out my handwritten list of police codes to try to keep up with all the numbers being yelled out. I continually think to myself "why isn't he texting??" Here I sat not knowing if Patrick is: 1) involved 2) the injured officer. After about 10 minutes of this complete and utter madness, I hear Patrick's voice come over the radio. "Alpha 444, can you please...blah blah blah.." OK.. I can now release a huge sigh of relief. I have yet to hear back from Patrick but at least I know he is okay. I heard his sweet voice. He is not in that mayhem. At least not this time...
I came to conclusion long ago that being a policeman's wife would not be easy. Tonight only reiterated that conclusion. After taking a deep breath and drinking a glass of wine, I began to think about this experience and relate it into tonight's message at church. This scare made me realize I need to be more thankful to others. I need not be selfish. I need to appreciate others for all that they are and for all that they do.
In our message tonight, Pastor Ed talked about how society has gotten rude and how people have lost their manners. He discussed how so many people fall into the trap of being so self-absorbed that they do not appreciate others and what is around them. Ed explained that God's want for us is to appreciate everyone else first--then ourselves. That we as Christians need to constantly pray for others. Even for people we do not know, say a prayer for them.
After going through my ordeal tonight, I must say that it made me realize that sometimes I am guilty of being that selfish person. Hearing the adrenaline, excitement and even the tremor in those police officers voices made me realize I need to slow down in life and take the time to consciously appreciate others around me. At times, cops are out literally fighting for our safety. These men and women will take a bullet for all of us when they don't even know most of us. I take advantage of the fact that I drive 3 miles to and from work. I go into my office, have a desk, do my job day in and day out. It's pretty predictable. Cops don't have this luxury. They show up to a call and it's game time. There are no second chances. Every decision matters. Each and every call could be the one that ends their life, and they are willing & brave enough to take that risk--day in and day out..for you and me. The criminal justice system has it flaws and sometimes it's hard to move around that. But the criminal system does not hinder the police. The system is not the police officers job duty or responsibility to be concerned about. They catch the bad guys. They save lives. They take guns and drugs off the streets. They put themselves in situations I could never dream of being in. They see things I could never imagine seeing. They are so brave. Now I start to think, how do we ever say thank you enough? How can I ever say thank you enough??
Tonight I pray...
"Heavenly Father, I want to thank you for watching over our police men and women. Please continue to guide them and protect them, as they protect us. Help to lead them out of harms way and may evil evade them. Continue to show our officers the courage and bravery that they need and may they go home safely every day. Father, thank you for showing us your love and glory. In your name I pray. Amen."
PS.. Incase you are wondering, Patrick has finally texted and said everything is fine, he is fine--Well DUH, I knew that already :) I have yet to explain this whole scene above to him yet. Pat did say that during the officer assist call mentioned above, 1 officer broke his leg and 1 officer hurt his knee. The words Thank You just don't seem like enough. God bless their souls.
Wow I have to tell you I had a similar exp. only not my husband. While in Michigan where my Grandfather, Uncles, and Cousins are all police officers we had the same situtaion and waitied on pins and needles until we heard they are ok. So glad that Ptrick was safe and pray for a speedy recovery for the injured officers. :) Luv ya girl!
ReplyDeleteI understand 100%. It's a hard life (I've lived it for 11 years now). There will be so many cold dinners, tons of lonely nights, multiple missed events, plans that are made and cancelled, events attended alone, stories you will be told that will keep you awake at night. But, in the end, our cops are good cops and are even better cops because of the women in their lives. And when they put on that uniform, we are prouder than any other wife in the world of the man our cops are and the often thankless jobs they do. And, when they come home safe, we are thankful and we NEVER take them for granted. Our hearts will swell with pride more in a week than many wives hearts do in a year. It's hard, sometimes it downright sucks but in the end, we wouldn't trade it for the world and that's part of what makes our men great.
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