Its Official!

My Police Man and me :)

I like this one, even though I'm awkwardly in it :)

Josh is no longer a Police Officer Recruit!

He is OFFICIALLY a Police Officer!

Wow, I can't believe the academy is over!

Actually it's not. He still has 5 more weeks doing department specific training (post basic) at the academy for Tucson. He then will be out in the field with a Field Training Officer showing him the ropes. (I know I'm not ready for that yet.)

These past 2 weeks we've been preparing for the graduation and start of post-basic. This month went by SO fast.

Wednesday night Josh and I went to his graduation dinner at La Fuente Restaurant here in Tucson. It was DELICIOUS! good pick to those who chose it!

I met some of the other recruits who had made it through the academy and their significant others or a member of their family. We also watched a (mostly comical) video of all of our beloved recruits at the academy getting beat up and pushed around! (and they enjoyed it of course! ) It was SO great to see all of the things they did while there. It was an inspiring video. Made me proud to have a police officer for a husband (not that I wasn't already! )

Thursday morning we were supposed to be at the academy ground between 730 and 800. We woke up at 730 due to an alarm not going off at 600, put on clothes, brushed teeth and ran out the door. We were only about 10 minutes late. The video was played again for those who didn't see it the night before. Then all of the recruits left the room and only family was left to talk to the behavioral Science people who then proceeded to tell us how to deal with living and loving a police officer! It was some good advice and made me really think about things and how as much as I have needed to be supportive during the academy, things will STILL be tough when Josh is just starting to get used to being out in the field. DUH, but sometimes those things don't register when you're thinking about getting through one thing at a time.

The graduation ceremony that afternoon was GREAT! They really did a good job of making it special and Law Enforcement truly is a family. Finding a seat for the graduation was not like it would be at the movies. You didn't make sure you had a seat separator so that you didn't sit by anyone you didn't know. You sat next to whoever you sat next to, got cozy and chatted about how much you loved those men in blue(other than one guy in brown) up on the chairs and how proud you are of each of them, whether you know them or not. You gush over what you've gone through the past few months while your loved one was MIA from anything not involving the academy and his brother of the law.

The speakers were great and the recruits now officers really showed their pride. One of the city council members shared this story:

The Creation of Peace Officers
When the Lord was creating peace officers, he was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "Have you read the spec on this order? A peace officer has
to be able to run five miles through alleys in the dark, scale walls, enter
homes the health inspector wouldn't touch, and not wrinkle his uniform.

"He has to be able to sit in an undercover car all day on a stakeout, cover a
homicide scene that night, canvass the neighborhood for witnesses,
and testify in court the next day.

"He has to be in top physical condition at all times, running on black coffee
and half-eaten meals. And he has to have six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands... no way."

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "it's the
three pairs of eyes an officer has to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. One pair that sees through a bulge in a pocket before he asks,
"May I see what's in there, sir?" (When he already knows and wishes he'd taken
that accounting job.) "Another pair here in the side of his head for his
partners' safety. And another pair of eyes here in front that can look
reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say, 'You'll be all right ma'am, when he knows it isn't so."

"Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow."

"I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model that can talk a 250 pound
drunk into a patrol car without incident and feed a family of five on a civil service paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the peace officer very slowly, "Can it think?" she asked.

"You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the elements of a hundred crimes;
recite Miranda warnings in its sleep; detain, investigate, search, and arrest
a gang member on the street in less time than it takes five learned judges to
debate the legality of the stop... and still it keeps its sense of humor.

This officer also has phenomenal personal control. He can deal with crime
scenes painted in hell, coax a confession from a child abuser, comfort a murder
victim's family, and then read in the daily paper how law enforcement isn't
sensitive to the rights of criminal suspects."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the peace
officer. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were trying to
put too much into this model."

"That's not a leak," said the lord, "it's a tear."

"What's the tear for?" asked the angel.

"It's for bottled-up emotions, for fallen comrades, for commitment to that
funny piece of cloth called the American flag, for justice."

"You're a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there," he said.

Anonymous

I really enjoyed this little story. She changed the word Lord to Creator, but that was fine with me. I know who the Creator is :)

At the end the Officers were dismissed and they said yelled or "spoke loudly" their theme, 09-04 One Team, One Roar. The room was silent and it was amazing. You could feel the pride and happiness in the air.

After the graduation, I took Josh out to a celebratory dinner at Black Angus, my baby loves steak so thats what he got! :)

On another related note-

The discussion with the behavioral science people really got me thinking. I wish we had family here in Tucson. I'm excited for Josh to start doing what he loves and I'm excited to be there for him, to do my best and to love him more than ever..(and I know this is kind of selfish but) who is going to be there for me when my husband works 10 hour days that turn into 12 or 14, and I have no idea what he's doing, how he's doing, and nothing to distract me? I'm just a little worried. I know I'll be fine, but I wish we had family here to support us (and me in supporting Josh) and that I could go through this with. Anyway, enough worrying, TODAY is a HAPPY day, The love of my eternity is doing what he loves! Life is good.