I was hoping to see him in uniform one more time and get a picture of him with Anna and Macy since they won't remember him being a policeman. The retiree's had other plans and wore Hawaiian shirts instead.
It was a quick ceremony. Those guys are ready to be out of there! Each person retiring had some pictures up on the slide show showing us their work throughout the years. Here are my dads:
The Chief would get up and say something nice about the former officer and tell us all about their work. Then the person would say a few words. One guy got up and said, "It's been a good ride but it's time to go." Then sat down.
My dad got up and told about his kids and how they are in 4 different states right now and two traveled to see him, all the way from Virginia. He was happy we were there :) Then he told a story about my mom. Of course it's normal for the wife of a police officer to be worried about his safety. My dad told her a long time ago that if she was awaken by a phone call in the middle of the night that was probably him calling to say he is safe. She would need to be worried about a knock at the door waking her up in the middle of the night because that is how the force informs the family of a death or injury. At the time my dad was working the graveyard shift and carpooled to work with someone. When he got home very early the next morning he realized he didn't have any keys to get inside the house. He had to knock on the door to get in. He said my mom had a terrified look on her face when she opened the door and probably hasn't forgiven him since.
It was fun to see my dad with his work buddies and know he is safe and sound at home now.
We hung out in Yorba Linda the rest of the day to celebrate and help decorate Grandma and Papa's Christmas tree with Aunt Jill. Macy loved hanging the ornaments. She especially loved hanging them all in one spot :)
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| a four generation picture |
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