You know, it was tough to grow up with five brothers, but now that they're all pretty much adults (well, physically, anyway) I don't mind it (they just need to give me sister-in-laws like Mindy and I'll be perfectly content).
I do see the fun that sisters have together and ache a little for that, but now I've realized that I have "sisters" since Chris became an officer over two years now.
I normally don't like to mention too much on our family blog about Chris's work because of weirdies, but I do want to share how tremendous the support and comradery has been once I discovered my sisters in blue.
First off, it started with Kimber. If it hadn't been for her, I would have been wallowing in self-pity and taking all of the changes that come with being married to a police officer to heart, but she helped me realize that I'm not alone and shouldn't take a lot of it personal.
She's put together a cop wive's night that meets monthly, which has been SUCH a great support group and I was so sad to miss the last get together, but I like them all too much to share the nasty puke bug I had that night.
In fact, she's the one that talked about finding police wives in blogland, which has REALLY opened the door in my life to find the sisters I never knew I had.
They are all so supportive of their husbands and have taught me how to be not only a better cop wife but a better person in general. Let me give you a few examples:
After reading Dori's post on motherhood, I remembered how wonderful my children are and how complete they make me feel.
Meadowlark gave me an "ah-hah!" moment as well as delicious recipes and in inkling to try my hand at knitting. Which I still need to attempt...
Momma Val recently had this great insight and has also been a great e-mail confidante when dealing with tough issues married to an officer.
Monica shared this very fitting quote with me after my silver lining post:
"Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day." ~Author Unknown
Mrs. Officer is surpremely optimistic and ambitious, who's not only a loving wife and mother but a good person. I've really learned to appreciate my family better because of her.
Mrs. Fuzz is new to the police world scene but you'd never guess it with her great posts and tremendous support she shows her hubby. And I LOVE her food blog (delgado slims are a regular in my household now, courtesy of Hot Fuzz)
Stephanie has been a kindred spirit from the start, with great insights on life as well as how to love her man in blue. Seriously, they are the cutest High School sweethearts!
Erin is highly entertaining with her well-thought out views on life and intellect, which makes me want to put more thought into my posts as well as my way of thinking in life.
Though I've never met these blogland fellow police wives in person, I wouldn't hesitate if given the chance to give them all hugs and thank them for becoming the sisters I've never had. I can tell we'd have LOTS to talk about if they ever attended one of our monthly cop wives nights!
I'm just so grateful that Chris's line of work has given me the opportunity to find such amazing women that I can keep in contact with and learn from. They've shown me that the best thing for a police officer is to have a supportive and encouraging wife, which I hope I will always be.
And Slamdunk, you're not a sister in blue but still a very supportive individual on how to take a thorough approach to life and I love reading your posts that range from missing person cases to funny, bungling burglars. It's wonderful to see from a former officer his views on life.
I'm just grateful that Chris loves his job and through his line of work to "protect and serve," I've been able to meet some amazing people in the area as well as throughout cyberspace.
