TO THE TIRED POLICE WIFE,

When you’re taking your makeup off tonight, pause to study the reflection looking back at you. Don’t fret if those worry lines are a bit more defined, or if the circles under your eyes have gotten a shade darker. That face you see, has had to exude more strength over the past year than any average woman could fathom- and that is why there aren’t many of us, as a police family; we do hard things.  Just as our spouses were called to a life of service- so were we. And because of that, you go on day in and day out, moving forward- even when the odds aren’t in our favor.

Despite feeling like you don’t have the strength to make it through one more shift without breaking down- you have. When you feel like you’re not “good” enough because you call to leave him one last voicemail before he is cut off from contact- you are. When you pray for guidance to figure out what he needs from you right now- you will.

Day in and day out you will go on- even when you don’t feel like you have an ounce of strength left to give. There’s this resilience amongst us- fall down once, get back up twice. Some may fall more than others, and our paths may not always lead us in the same direction- but, if for some reason your path crosses with someone else’s and you find them on their knees, I pray you will fall to yours to pull them back to their feet and help them find the strength they need to keep going on. Our patches may be different and the cars hidden in our driveways may have different markings but our paths have all intersected here - in this family. And in this family, no one fights alone.