REAL-LIFE POLICE OFFICERS

Typically I use this section to recognize my top fans, the reader friends who follow me on social media and are first to open my newsletters each week. But this time I thought to highlight all the real-life Jack Ryder types, the ones who work long hours for little pay, sacrificing their lives to protect you and me.

I put out a call for readers to honor the police officers and first responders in their lives, and the outpouring was overwhelming. Not just in the number of readers who submitted the names of their family members and friends. But in what else they said in those heart-rending emails. “No one has wanted to honor my police officer wife in a very long time,” one man wrote. “I am writing this with tears in my eyes.” Many others wrote similar letters.

So… friends, take a minute and read this list.

I’d like to add to it several others. First, during the writing of this book, FBI agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger were killed and three other agents were wounded in a raid on a Florida trafficker’s house. I’d like to honor them. I’d also like to recognize the six police officers who worked against a ticking massive bomb to save the lives of hundreds of residents in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day, 2020. And finally, I recognize these officers: my cousin Eddie; my husband’s cousins John and Charlie; Aaron, who has always been like a son to us; and our friends John and Charlie—all officers who devoted many, many years to serving their communities.

Friends, pray for the men and women honored here. Pray for the families of those whose watch ended far too soon. And the next time you see a police officer or first responder, buy them a coffee. Hand them a You Were Seen Card… or just thank them.

And may God bless and protect those who serve.