Raising a Police Officer
A mother’s love is something that no one can explain
A mother’s love is something that no one can reason with
She rises early and cares for her son
She loves her son and is willing to lay down her life for her son
When he cries, she holds him
When he rejoices, she rejoices with him
A mother keeps things from her son to protect him
She disciplines him to keep him on a straight path
She keeps the world as far away as she can and shields her son from the dangers that lurk outside
A mother soaks up the evil and the stories, lying awake at night so her son doesn’t have to
A mother gives up her dreams and her hopes so that her son can have everything he wants
She puts herself between danger and her son
As the son grows, the mother shields him and loves him
A mother explains to her son why the world is the way it is
She teaches how to still love, despite the brokenness
She helps him see how there is still good, despite the bad
The son sees the love of God through his mother and sees compassion through her
A mother teaches her son to care for others and to love others
She teaches him how to love despite the pain others may have caused
She provides him with the things he needs everyday
She tries to better equip her son for the challenges he will face
A mother knows that one day her son will grow up and leave and he will live far away
She knows that she will no longer be able to shield him from the dangers and the brokenness
She will no longer shield him from the evil
A mother knows that she will have only a short few years to teach her son everything he needs
She will always be close by, in her son’s heart, for guidance later in his life
A mother stands in the rain and the cold
She rises early in the morning, long before the sun
She forces herself to sacrifice her comfort for a greater cause and a greater good
A mother would do anything for her son as long as she is alive, no matter how old he is
And then the son grew up…
He kissed his mother and said goodbye, moving far away
He faced the world without her
He used the training and the knowledge that his mother had taught him
The son stood in the rain and in the cold
He rose early in the morning, long before the sun
He forced himself to sacrifice his comfort for a greater cause
Just as his mother had taught him through her actions
The son learned and he grew
He learned how to survive for four homesick months, thinking of his mother
He marched and he took an oath
The son took a badge and gun and swore to serve and protect
Just like his mother had taught him through her actions
The son became a police officer
He rises early and he works late
He watches people die by their own hands and by other’s hands
The son keeps the tears from his own eyes while telling a mother her son has died
He holds a stranger in his arms, praying for their life
He does CPR on someone who has already passed just for the loved ones nearby
The son calls his mother and tells her the funny and exciting stories
He keeps stories from her so that she won’t lay awake at night
The son protects his mother from the evil in the world
The son loves his mother and would lay down his life for her
He keeps her teachings and instructions in his heart, to guide him, even when he is old
The son thinks of his mother as he holds his gun, pointing it at the unknown
He thinks of his mother when he hears a gun fire from somewhere nearby
The worlds accuses the son of killing and hurting for personal gain or malice
It accuses him of fighting others because he wears the badge and carries the gun
The son is willing to kill but not for personal gain
He pulls the trigger, thinking of his mother
He kills to protect himself and to see his mother just one more time
He is willing to take a life so that a son will not grow up without his mother
He is willing to give his life so another mother will see her son again
He has compassion on the wicked, just like his mother taught him
The son listens to stories of brokenness and pain
He knows that the difference between he and them is a mother that cared
A mother that loved and sacrificed
The mother didn’t know, when her son was just a baby, that he would carry a gun
She didn’t know that he would maybe one day have to take another’s life
But the mother cared for her son and loved him
She prepared him for the hard moments and the tough decisions
That’s why the son thinks of his mother, clutching his bulletproof vest
He thinks of her, afraid to look down to see if his vest stopped the rounds
He fears that his mother will grow up without a son
Everything the son knows is because of his mother
As the son rushes to the front door, his gun in hand
As he watches the blue and red lights flashing off the front porch
As he hears the screams and pain of someone else’s mother
He thinks of his own
He breaks the door and puts himself between the danger and a mother
He fights for what’s right and for his mother, waiting patiently for a phone call so far away
He hides how close he’s come to death and he reassures her that he will always come home
The mother did not sign up to raise a police officer. She could have never known that her little baby boy would grow up to face the evil she fought so hard to keep from him. It is unfair to ask a mother to support something so dangerous and uncertain. Despite never knowing, the mother is proud of her son. A mother’s love knows no bounds and she supports her son without being asked. She prays for him and loves him because she knows that she had trained him for times like these. A mother sits and waits by the phone, watching the clock and counting the minutes until the end of the shift. She watches her front door anxiously, hoping to never see men in uniform, with hats in hand, asking her to take a seat before they deliver the news. News a mother should never have to hear. She may live far away but she is always in her son’s heart. She is his mother and he is her police officer.
This story is dedicated to my wonderful mother. The best mother a boy could ask for.