This morning, I received some terrible news: one of my colleagues, a past supervisor, was found in his home. I don't think I need to elaborate further on what that means. It hits too close to home, coming on the heels of an anniversary of another tragedy in our public safety community. I'm still stunned, as I know many feel when a tragedy of this magnitude occurs.
My public safety friends: you are not alone. You are NEVER alone, no matter how dark or desperate you may feel. We all have demons, and this job exposes us to nightmares regularly. We all have our ways of fending off those nightmares, but never, ever, should you feel like you’re the only one who feels the way you do. You may be stoic and strong with the uniform on, but underneath beats a human heart, the same as everyone else.
My public safety friends: you are not alone. You are NEVER alone, no matter how dark or desperate you may feel. We all have demons, and this job exposes us to nightmares regularly. We all have our ways of fending off those nightmares, but never, ever, should you feel like you’re the only one who feels the way you do. You may be stoic and strong with the uniform on, but underneath beats a human heart, the same as everyone else.
As your colleagues, we don’t need
you to prove your toughness by shrugging off the same emotions we all feel. You
prove that toughness every day when you come to work beside us. It takes a strong
person to do this work, and to keep doing it in the face of what we see. What
makes you even stronger is facing your own humanity and admitting that, even if
only once in a while, the everyday things that make up life get to you too.
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