Today we honor one of our own. I have less time left than I have lived. There have been times when I wanted to say something or do something for someone, but life got in the way. Work, relationships, mortgages, children, just not enough time for all the things I want to do or say. “I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll see them at work. Maybe we can get together on the weekend, have a meal, a drink, some time to unwind and catch up.”

Then you get the message, the social media notice or the phone call. “Hey, did you hear?” It’s the words you are not ready for. The thing you didn’t want to happened, has happened. “I just saw them yesterday. They seemed fine. What happened?”

All the words I wished I had said, the get togethers I wanted to plan. Where did the time go? Wasn’t it just yesterday we were in recruit school, the long lunches, the long night study sessions.

Every time I perform a funeral, I say this. Yesterday at the visitation I heard someone say, “it’s another reunion.” It was. The funny thing in all this is we are a lot older than the pictures on the presentation. The patients we used to take care of are now our family.  Instead of transporting, we are sitting with them, feeding and caring for them.

I remember when we were young, we would go to family reunions at least once a year. I remember listening to aunts say, “My, you have grown since last year.” Playing with cousins, learning the heritage of our families.

How about our public safety family? We call ourselves family. We have worked together, watched our children grow up, been to weddings and of course funerals. I have a question. Why did we ever quit having reunions or maybe another question, is why don’t we go? I know, I know, we are busy. Life isn’t as lazy as it used to be. But the truth is we lose out. We miss the camaraderie, the stories, the love.

Next time you are with your public safety family, tell them what you want to say. Don’t wait. Don’t be afraid of saying how you feel. It’s ok to say, “I love you. Be safe. Take care of yourself.”