I’m the daughter of two police officers.
I’m sure you don’t hear that one too often.
Yes, some people may have a father or mother that is a police officer, but not many can say that both of their parents are police officers.
To this day, I have never met anyone else who’s parents are both police officers and I’m 19 years old. I bet you probably can’t even say that you know someone who is the child of two police officers either.
My dad has actually been retired since the day I moved into college and my mom is just days away from retirement. I couldn’t be more proud of both of them and although I am relieved that they’re retired, I’m also sad for them because I know they both will miss their jobs.
Just for a little background, my parents were officers in one of the most dangerous cities in the state of MA, with violent crime nearly double the national average. They were out on the street for most of their careers, and have over 60 years of police experience combined.
To be completely honest, I never thought about my parents jobs as being risky, unusual, or even really that cool. I just grew up with it and thought it was normal.
A lot of people ask me, even when I was little “are you ever worried about your parents being police officers?” and to be completely honest I genuinely hate that question.
I was asked that question from such a young age when I honestly did not understand what it was my parents did and how risky their job actually was. My parents never talked about the bad part of their job around me and they rarely shared scary stories of what happened to them on calls and I’m thankful for that.
So when people asked me “are you worried” I would respond “no”. To this day, as a 19 year old girl, I still respond “no” to that question. I always get strange looks when people hear my response, but I don’t really care.
No, I’m not worried about my parents because I know how much their coworkers love them and how they would protect them. I know that God watches over them and keeps them safe. Most of all, I know my parents. I know they’re smart, skilled, and experienced and I trust that they can protect themselves.
Now you might say, “well something bad could still happen to them despite all of that” and yes, that’s true. Throughout my life, I have chosen to not fear and not worry. I would have a hard life if I worried every day about my parents going to work and I’m glad my parents raised me to know in my heart that they’d be safe.
I’m not going to sit here and say that I have never worried about them at work because I have. Up until freshman or sophomore year in high school, my mom worked until 11pm every night and I’d be home with my dad. Sometimes I’d stay up and wait for her, and believe me, if she was late I would worry. There was a few nights that I prayed to God my mom would walk through the doors, and she always did. As I grew up, and obviously once I got a phone I didn’t worry as much. She was just a text or call away to make sure she was on her way.
As for my dad, I don’t think I really ever worried about him except for the one or two times he had to go to the hospital just to get checked out for something minor. By the time I was old enough to really process all of it, he was a Lieutenant and was in the office more than he was on the street and I was thankful for that.
Like I mentioned previously, my mom is retiring in less than a week. When thinking about her, my dad, and their careers I realized I never really talked about it to anyone or reflected upon it myself. I know a lot of people find it “weird”, “cool”, or “interesting” that they’re both police officers so I figured that I might as well blog about it.
There’s actually way more to write about than I thought there would be, so I’m going to make this a 3 or 4 part series talking about different parts of what it’s like to be the child of two police officers. I hope you enjoy, and learn something as well.
Police Lives Matter. My parent’s lives matter.
Boston & Beyond 