I was sitting reading a memorial page for a brave man last night. A cop, killed in the line of duty.
I didn’t know him. I don’t know anyone who did know him but I sat here, tears running down my face reading peoples memories of this man who gave his life for our freedom.
It made me start to think and I just sat and typed all this out, exactly how it hit my mind.
You see the news – another one lost today.
A cop, a trooper, a deputy.
Someone’s son, daughter, brother, mother, friend.
You feel sorry for their families, you think it’s a tragic waste of a young life but do you ever stop and think about the boy or girl they were?
The kid who tracked mud across their mum’s kitchen floor.
The kid who got a detention for not doing their homework.
The kid who scraped his bike down the side of your car.
The kid who’s prom photo’s look all gawky and goofy, potential unrealised, dreams shining out from their sparkling eyes.
The kid who was such a pain in the ass but grew up to put that same ass on the line for our freedom.
We haven’t just lost this kid but a whole generation.
We’ve lost this kids kids.
Kids who would have grown up having parents with integrity and values.
Kids who would have grown up having a hero for a parent.
So that gives all the rest of us a duty of honour.
The kid who died for our safety deserves our respect.
The kids we can have deserve to know the price of their freedom.
It is our duty to make sure that those who come after understand the sacrifice of those who fell before.
It is our duty to live a life worthy of the loss of theirs.
Somewhere right now, as you read this, there’s a mother wishing she could take back every cross word she ever made.
A teacher thinking, I wish I wasn’t so hard on that kid
A neighbour thinking, Damnit, it was only a car.
It isn’t just praise that makes kids grow into hero’s, kids need to be disciplined too.
Anyone with regrets about things they said or did can rest assured, they did the right thing.
What makes hero’s are values. Integrity. Knowing right from wrong and doing the right thing even though it’s not the easy thing.
You taught them that, they proved it.
I pledge to all our fallen LEO’s that I will come down on my kids like a ton of bricks when they need it.
Hug them daily and tell them how proud I am of them.
Remind them what that badge really means every day of every year until they remind me.
I’ll make them citizens you would be proud of.
It’s the price I owe you for my families safety.
I’ll never forget.
Bitchin’ in the Kitchen 