Laid to Rest

I'm kind of an emotional person anyway, but there are certain things that make me overly emotional. Bagpipes for sure always get me. 9/11 stories and footage is too much, so I steer clear. And "How Great Thou Art" or "Families Can Be Together Forever" can make me weepy almost every time. But for the past couple of weeks I haven't been able to look at a Lakewood Police car without getting super emotional. Not because they are pulling me over or anything, but because of the four murdered Lakewood police officers that were shot to death on Sunday, November 29th at a coffee shop just right outside Lakewood. I didn't know them and I don't even know if I ever saw them before, but this tragedy his so close to home. I've lived in Lakewood my entire life (except college) and to think something this terrible could happen here saddens me.

I guess it's the senselessness of it all, that they were killed while filling out paperwork, not knowing what the day would eventually bring. And they left behind families, some with babies, and it breaks my heart. And I love Lakewood! I am raising my family here and like to think we are safe, but when something like this happens it shatters my sense of security and makes me a little more paranoid that I normally am. I can't help but think, "What kind of world are my children going to grow up in?"

And yet, this whole experience has made me proud of my community. The outpouring of support and love from Lakewood to our police officers has been massive. Everywhere I go I see signs and billboards in front of homes and businesses that let the LPD know how much we care. There are blue ribbons on door fronts and collection jars to donate money for the families of the officers, who left behind nine children all together. Hipkins Drive, the road I take to work every day, has blue star balloons tied to all their mailboxes in a show of support. Papa John's donated all of their proceeds from this last Tuesday and Wednesday to the fallen officer's families, and the wait for pizza was up to three hours long because so many people came to help. And the memorial in front of the LPD precinct is so huge with flowers and signs and momentos that just the memorial alone has made national news. Even at the Seahawks game on Sunday they held a moment of silence for the officers, and then rang a bell four times, and as I looked around I saw so many people with tears in their eyes, including me.

Normally I love watching the news, but I haven't been able to watch it lately because I get to weepy (no, I'm not pregnant!). But I felt the need to take the boys to the funeral procession on Tuesday morning to show them that there are good people out there and that we need to support our local police departments. The procession started at McChord AFB and weaved through Lakewood to the Tacoma Dome. There were thousands of police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks from so many different cities and states that I lost count. I began by writing all the different precincts down on a piece of paper, but ran out of room completely on the paper. There were officers there from Border Patrol, Idaho, Oregon, Massachusetts, Utah, Arizona, and Montana. The Mounties from Canada even came to show their support. The entire procession lasted almost four hours. And even though Carissa and I got trapped inside the Lowes parking lot for that entire time (we weren't prepared for how long it would take!) it was worth it for me to see how many people came to show support for our community and our police department.

Cole and Bryce don't understand the significance of the whole thing. They just thought it was cool to see lots of police cars.

When the procession started it was emotional and somber. You could just see an endless line of police cars with their lights on, sirens off. The officers inside looked serious, but appreciative. And except for our crazy kids, the crowd gathered on the street to watch was silent. Some put their hands over their heart (and kept it there the whole four hours in the freezing temps) and some held signs. We eventually moved the kids to our cars to warm them up since we had a street view from our car. I told Rix that he may never again see a police funeral procession like this again. And I hope we never have to see one again.

Just down the road from here in LPD precinct. That was where they picked up the officers' families and had the hearses. I'm glad I wasn't there. It would have been emotional overload! And you can see here how many people came out. It was like this for the whole route.

The motorcycles were so cool. There were so many, and it was very cool to see.

Click on the following links to read more about the Lakewood Police Officer shootings (or just Google it, a ton comes up):

The Memorial: http://www.thenewstribune.com/lakewoodshooting/story/983539.html

The Suspect: http://www.thenewstribune.com/lakewoodshooting/story/982723.html