The Walking Wounded

He was staring off into the distance as if he wanted to choose his words carefully. What was him making eye contact turned into a thousand-yard stare as he worked out every vivid detail in his mind. “Man,” he paused, “the most difficult call that I ever went to was right after my daughter was born.” He paused again, now making eye contact with me, “I went to a call where this little girl, right around the age of my daughter at the time was severely abused by her father. It was all that I could do to keep it together, and then I had to go to my next call and carry myself as though I didn’t just see what I did.”

How did we get to this conversation? I had asked my friend, in the wake of some tensions in Grand Rapids, what was the most difficult thing about transitioning from one call to another. This was the first thing that came to mind in his nearly 10-year journey as a police officer at this time. Between his time in two different departments, he had seen just about everything that the job could offer, but nothing prepared him for this moment.

In talking together, he felt as though he could open up to me because of some of my combat experiences. However, it still felt as though he was both relieved and ashamed in sharing. He felt like didn’t have anyone to confide in. Who could he tell without feeling like he was burdening them?

Maybe my friend’s story hits close to home for you. Maybe you just need someone to share with who has walked in your shoes or has faced impossible circumstances themselves. If you don’t have anyone to talk to, we would love to get you started in our peer support program. We have trained volunteer peer support ready to walk alongside of you, and we match you by similar profiles the best that we can.

Please reach out to matt@thefobministries.org or go to our contact form to get started.

-Matt