A hard month for law enforcement

"Does it scare you, Babe?" 

"Sometimes, yah it does."

I watch the news habitually every morning. Since Kev has been at the Academy, I have sat on the edge of my bed too many mornings lamenting over what I am watching. This month has been particularly hard because law enforcement has been the target. In early July, my heart ached as I peered at the aftermath of an ambush in Dallas killing five police officers and injuring nine. Days later, I took a seat and listened to another intentional, heartless murder of three officers and three hospitalized survivors in Baton Rouge. This Monday, I woke up to an Oakland sergeant who narrowly escaped an intentional bullet, and in the heels of recent events shook the Bay Area for an internalized fear that suddenly felt too close to home. So many lives were changed forever in those series of moments.

The world hosts a battleground for good and evil.

All you can do is play your part in the good and never lose sight of the beauty and innocence this world is also home to. With each sinister act, remember that there is an impenetrable human connection that unites us against those who behaved callously. In that moment, the ethnic, cultural, and religious divides are concurred as we come together as a community, nation, and world.

On Sunday, I sat on the edge of my bed and watched my boyfriend put his bullet proof vest on for the first time. He strapped it on tightly in front of the mirror.

I remember how excited we were when he was first given the vest. However, I never saw it on him until that moment. I went over to him and touched it. I felt how light and thin it was. Then I pointed at the exposed areas and asked him, "what about here." He told me that wasn't were it needed to protect him and pulled me in for a hug.

Behind that vest is a very good man. He loves, he dreams, he protects, he cries, and he laughs. He is a grandson, a son, a nephew, a cousin, a brother, an uncle, a boyfriend, and a friend to many. He aspires to protect his community, be a good person to those who love him, and become a husband and father someday.

He will soon be a new hero.

A selfless man willing to protect those he can and to set a standard for goodness in the world. We are going to learn so much in the next 30 years of his career, but no matter what we see on the edge of our bed or first hand, we will always remember that there is more good in the world than evil. There will always be more people in our corner.

Sometimes I ask him though, "does it scare you?" Because sometimes the world can scare me.

- Mimi