10-8 Reporting for Duty

I began writing about the last nine months of my husband Mike’s life for my children. It has morphed into a story about law enforcement personnel and their families. When you come to the end of this book, I hope you see law enforcement people as just that: people. Ordinary people, sometimes expected to do extraordinary things. My hope is that you will understand that they have the same worries, expectations, and fears that others have, including yourself. However, they have a variance in their life. They are known by most in the communities they serve. They have seen a different side of life. Sometimes it’s the happy side. Often however, it’s the seamy, ugly, messy side.

Some of what you will read are my thoughts, but many are the opinions of people involved in the enforcement of our laws and the day-to-day living of you, the person reading this. I have researched the areas of life the police seem to be the most involved in. I was enlightened by the honesty and emotional responses of the men and women who took part in this endeavor. I am genuinely excited by what they were willing to share, and hopefully I have been able to put those thoughts, emotions, fears, and happiness into words. This has evolved into a story of so much more than the last year of a dying man. It has become a narrative of families, careers, and life.