While most people spend their night tucked away in a house safely, they’re out there. No, they aren’t with their families opening Christmas gifts so nicely wrapped and tucked away under the Christmas tree or at your birthday party or at your award assemblies for school. They’re out there, protecting and serving. It’s hard to understand when you’re not the child of a Law Enforcement Officer or another category of First Responders. One can’t even begin to understand the abundance of evil there is in this world. Realizing at a young age sometimes makes things harder.
   

Growing up, I was overjoyed at the fact that I could tell people my dad was out putting the bad guys behind bars. Now it’s a different story. In today’s society in many ways Law Enforcement Officers are looked upon as the villains, not as the heros they truly are. The people who are out in dark, frigid night and the sweltering heat of the day putting their lives on the line every waking moment are now labeled in our society as the ‘bad guys.’ The men and women who spend hours and hours patrolling neighborhoods, towns and cities keeping you safe from any harm that you might unfortunately run into are shamed and threatened for doing their jobs.

The boots that your parent polished last night, they are now thrashed and scuffed from chasing a criminal down in the dead of night. The uniform shirt and pants that were so nicely pressed and ironed are ripped and torn from protecting a young lady from an abusive relationship. The hand that you held is broken from saving the life of a fellow officer who was held at gunpoint. The people your parents work with will not hesitate to stop by and let you know that your parent is doing fine after you not seeing them for months on end. The people your parents work with become your family, their family becomes your family. You bleed blue.
   

You’ll learn social media isn’t your friend. You’ll dread the phone ringing while your parent is out of the house, you answer in hopes that your parent is okay. You hear the words on the radio or on the news, “Officer shot and killed in the line of duty.” and your heart shatters into a million pieces. You sit at home and wait for your parent arrive and when you hear the loud thumping of those corpulent, dark work boots it’s a sign of relief. The manner in which they tear the velcro straps of their vests conveys the day that they’ve had. Regardless, you’re happy to have them home.    
   

You’ll learn many things along the journey of having a parent as a law enforcement officer. You’ll question the strategy of Law Enforcement Officers on TV shows and movies. You’ll learn that a family fun day involves going to the range and doing some target practice. You’ll learn that guns make you feel extremely safe. You’ll learn that every time you make a new friend your parent have to have auxiliary information because they are extremely over protective. You’ll learn that people hate you for the job that your parent does. You’ll hear vulgar things shouted at you or your parent. You’ll learn that you are proud of your parent every single second of the day. You’ll learn that despite any circumstances at the end of the day your parent and the people your parent work with are your heros. They are the people that sacrifice time and energy into protecting people like you and me. They are a certain piece of a puzzle that this society could not live without. With that said, they are the blue blood that I and many other people will cherish and hold close to our hearts for the rest of our lives.