When all you see in the news these days is story after story of mayhem, violence, murder, destruction, injustice, fear, and complete pandemonium, it can be overwhelming, discouraging, and stressful.  Quite frankly, I’m over it.  It makes me sick to my stomach. We can’t ignore the bad, but if...

Life is cyclical. Each season of life brings new hopes, expectations, challenges, and growth.  “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”[1] The past several weeks have been a season of new beginnings for me. After voluntarily resigning from my position as a...

Strapping in for the full-price emotional roller coaster ride of grief is a daunting proposition.  To make matters worse, unlike the admission pass to an amusement park you excitedly buy for yourself, grief’s ticket is usually handed to you by others.  Life then seems to wink at you with...

It’s a well-known saying among law enforcement officers, “Being a cop isn’t just a job, it’s a calling.”  It is a feeling deep in the core of your being that you are there for a purpose, to make a difference in peoples’ lives, and that what you’re doing matters. ...

I stared at the peanut butter that was splattered all over my kitchen floor, the refrigerator, and the cabinets.  The butter knife I had been using moments before was laying on the floor as well.  What on earth just happened?  If I can’t even spread peanut butter on a...

Fun (fŭn) n.  A source of enjoyment or pleasure; amusing diversion (e.g. Being stuck at a desk days on end is fun.  Have fun drowning in reports!  Being overworked and underappreciated heightened the fun for me). Not.  In.  My.  Dictionary.  Ever. The phone ringing on my desk was no...

After the obligatory trip to the emergency room the night of the crash, I spent the next several months at home recuperating.  Due to the impact of the crash, I essentially whiplashed sideways at a combined speed of 80+ mph, which resulted in a multitude of musculoskeletal issues, especially...

January 14th, 2018 – Approximately 18:00 hours. I was driving. It was dark outside, with plenty of the typical evening rush-hour traffic. I was on my way to back up another officer on a burglar alarm call. After a quick look at my mobile data terminal (MDT) (while stopped...