Growing up, children often look up to police officers and firefighters while drawing pictures in Kindergarten indicating that those people are their heroes. Being born into a family of generations of police officers, my childhood has been unlike everyone else’s. The typical child’s hero happens to be my dad.
Everyone’s childhood is unique. We all grow up in different places and we each have stories of our own. My story begins with my dad, who has been a New Jersey State Trooper for over 25 years. Growing up I knew my childhood was different from everyone else’s. My dad didn’t leave the house at 7 AM and come home at 5 PM; he had hours that would drag on during the day and sometimes into the night and vice versa. Even though he works more hours than the average worker, he still made sure to make a more than significant presence in my life.
Throughout my childhood, I never had to worry about if my dad was “cool” or not. He simply was the coolest, and everyone knew it. From a young age he would come into my classes and talk about safety and even read books to us. At an even older age, he came into my high school classes and talked about some of his more “crazy” stories that he was able to experience while being a state trooper. Sitting there, I was able to think, “Wow, that’s my dad. I’m so lucky.” However, there’s more to my childhood than my dad telling stories about his occupation.
While the typical child was spending holidays carefree with both of their parents, I sometimes was not. My dad was sometimes called into work on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, or even Christmas Day; the main days that you want to spend with your family. It’s always scary not knowing if your parent is going to come home or not, because you don’t know what the day has in store, especially when your parent is in law enforcement. My dad would often come home late and eat dinner after everyone else had finished, but I was still proud that he was out working making the world safer for me and everyone else.
Now that I’m a lot older and that I’m able to understand the events of 9/11, I realize that I’m very fortunate that my dad is still with me today. No one knew if there would be more attacks after the initial one, but my dad did his job and went to Ground Zero days after our city was attacked. While he lost dear friends due to this tragic day, he still decided to risk his life by breathing in toxins from debris so that he could properly cleanup the remains of the people who had lost theirs lives during the attack. I’m lucky that my dad came home safety.
Although I carry a constant weight of worry about whether or not my dad will come home some days, I’m proud to be the daughter of a parent in law enforcement. I have never needed to worry about feeling safe while he was home or if we ever traveled as a family. One of the best memories I have of my dad is when we went into New York City for dinner when I was little. I remember hearing a woman screaming that a man had stolen her purse. My dad chased down the man, who was riding a bike, caught the man, and grabbed the woman’s purse back for her. That is the only moment in my life where I’ve seen the city completely pause.
My dad isn’t just a child’s hero, but he’s mine as well. I know that he will always be there to protect my family and the rest of the world. Growing up with a parent in law enforcement is a blessing in disguise. Thank you to my dad and to the rest of law enforcement for the extraordinary things you do for everyone every single day.