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Why We Avoid Community
On Wednesday I held the first meeting of my new peer group. I invited several local police wives to join me once a week to go through A CHiP on my Shoulder chapter by chapter. We enjoyed some goodies, introduced ourselves, talked about the purpose and the rules, and basically learned who each other were.…
Read MoreHello, My Name is Victoria
My daughter and I were watching TV together the other night. She asked me a question about the show, and I started to tear up. She gave me that teenage-are-you-really-getting-emotional-about-HGTV-Mom?-look. It’s a smirk – and from time to time I have to bare my soul and explain my thought process for things I do that…
Read MoreAn LEOW Thanksgiving
Over the freeway and through the neighborhood To my mother’s house we go A well-worn road With kids in tow To spend another holiday alone. Over the freeway and through the neighborhood To mother’s questioning eyes! Oh, LE Wifey dear, Why isn’t he here? For Thanksgiving dinner here lies! Over the freeway and through the…
Read MoreTwo Minutes with Gilmartin
Last week I had the opportunity to attend Dr. Kevin Gilmartin’s training on Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement. It was my first time listening to him teach in person. I was taken in with the way he presented the parts of police officers others rarely see: the biological and chemical reactions to what they are…
Read MoreBelow 100: Officer Safety 101
On Monday I drove my little Prius to the Bay Area to attend a Below 100 Training. This is the third such training I’ve sat through, and it gets me every time. Below 100 is a campaign to bring our national on-duty death toll down from 140-160 a year to below 100. By simply reminding…
Read MoreHeroism: A Learned Response
Every September I do the same thing – I watch shows that tell the stories of 9/11. I’m well versed in Flight 93 – I’ve watched just about everything I can get my hands on, read books, and know many of the names of those who became heroes that day. I’ve heard the stories of…
Read MoreWarriors at Home
We are the warriors behind those who go to war. While our officers battle on the streets, we battle from within our homes. We are the strong, back up forces that support, equip, and empower our police officers out on the street. We stand. We know who our officers are and who they are not,…
Read MoreMiley, We’re Not in Montana Anymore!
I’ve never watched the VMA awards before. I don’t even know what VMA stands for. And I don’t really care. But this week has been overshadowed by the latest shocking event on this show. Why? Because my daughter is mortified. My girls grew up watching Hannah Montana. They’d finish their homework, and run to the…
Read MoreWhen Grief Comes
The thunder rumbled and the room lit up. She sighed heavily, leaning over to see that her husband was not in bed. And then she remembered where he was. Sadness. Anger. Grief. She pulled herself from under the covers. She couldn’t sleep anyway. Between the physical storm that presently ripped through the sky, and the…
Read MoreRonald Reagan: A Human Inspiration
This is not a political post. The one thing I dislike about politics is that people are divided, placed into different groups and sometimes pitted against each other. If you’ve read my posts for very long, you understand that I advocate bringing people together despite their differences, learning to communicate in a way that brings…
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