1 AMAZING THING I SAW AT POLICE WEEK

Despite the horrible traffic, living in the D.C. area has it’s advantages. 🙂 Being able to go to events in D.C. is one of them, although life gets in the way and we don’t always have the time. National Police Week is always held in the Nation’s Capital and my husband and I try to attend Police Week as often as we can.

We took a year or two off due to having young children, so being able to attend this year was great! Due to other commitments, we were only able to drive in one day, but that was really all we needed. We spent the day at ‘Tent City;’ a large, blocked off collection of white tents with law enforcement related vendors. A plethora of businesses and organizations were set up selling more police gear than you can imagine!

Looking inside those white tents you will find a TON of blue line heroes. If the people you are among are not current or retired police then they are blue line family or law enforcement supporters.

The day seemed to go by fast. It was filled with metro rides, shopping within Tent City, talking to other law enforcement families, meeting new people from all around the world, and much more. At one point I was pushing around our baby boy in his stroller trying to get him to fall asleep and my husband went to grab a beer. Everything slowed down for a bit and I started reflecting on this amazing day.

The One Amazing Thing I Saw

I have never looked around and seen so much support in one given area in my life. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are from, or anything else about you; if you are BLUE family then you are loved. This is why I AM PROUD to be a law enforcement family. Unless you are in a first responder family, I can not think of any other career (this is more than a career, but you know what I mean), that exudes so much camaraderie and support like this one does.

Police Week is a time to honor and remember those we have lost. And to see so many amazing people come together to do that was incredibly emotional to experience.

There were people hugging, shaking hands, laughing, telling stories, sharing where they are from and their journey to get to Police Week, the list goes on and on. Everyone just walks up to you and starts chatting, as if you have known them forever. It is like no ice breaker is ever needed within the law enforcement family. Standing on that thin blue line is your ice breaker, so you feel comfortable in any police family presence. Being around all the love and support is contagious. It just makes you want to share and spread the love, as well.

Gosh, it is such an amazing feeling being among your blue line family and seeing the tremendous support of others who bleed blue.

I left Tent City that day feeling more PROUD of my husband than when I walked in. PROUD that he is following his passion like so many other officers in his shoes. PROUD that he stands united with such an amazing group of heroes.

I am sure if we had attended the Candlelight Vigil or other events that week that I would have been flooded with even more emotions. Just seeing pictures of men and women standing shoulder to shoulder, all for one reason, at the Candlelight Vigil, is moving.

All these feelings made me think about the unspoken bond that law enforcement families have. That support is just never questioned.

I am thankful that we could attend this year and grateful we had the time to strengthen our bond within the law enforcement community.