Last Tuesday evening, as we headed out the door, Kiera turned to me and asked, “Can I take some extra clothes?”
I was completely baffled. We were going to the Light the Night Ceremony, a community event that was being held for our local Law Enforcement. I couldn’t imagine why she would need extra clothes.
“No, baby. Why would you need extra clothes?” I asked as I held the front door open for her.
“In case my baby pees.” She stated matter-of-factly as she motioned to her baby doll that she held in her arm.
Ahh… I was back on the same page as my child. “No, honey. She won’t need extra clothes.” I assured her as we hustled out to the truck.
“So, if she pees, I will just wipe her with a wet rag?” She asked, trying to rationalize everything in her mind.
I double checked her seat belt and gave up on my rational thinking as I assured her that if her baby did indeed pee, we would find a wet rag.
As Aaron put the truck in gear, we began to explain to her where we were going and why. “Tonight is a special night. We are going to pray for our policemen and women. You can meet the new chief and see some of the police officers that you know.”Because of the time that we have spent volunteering in community events, we have been blessed to meet many of our community servants. A couple of them have taken a shine to Kiera and the feeling is mutual for her.
Pulling into the parking lot, Aaron parked and we climbed out of the truck. I looked over to the Depot Plaza where people were milling around. We were early, which is a shocker… but the main point I am trying to get across, is that it was early and there were so many people already.
We made our way over to the booths of merchandise and began to help where we could. Kiera immediately snagged Mrs. Jennifer from the Chamber, who not only manned a booth, but also helped Kiera keep her baby in ‘diapers made with tape and napkins.’
Kiera spotted one of our Brownwood police officers, Mrs. Tracey and ran to hug her. After talking to Mrs. Tracey for a minute, we found Chief Nichols and I introduced him to Kiera. For just a brief moment, she turned shy. She smiled at him but wouldn’t really talk until he asked if he could wear her bow. At that point, she gave him a big grin and told him “no.”
After visiting with other people for a few minutes, Kiera and I made our way back to the booth, just in time for the event to start. I wasn’t sure how she would do since part of the time she would need to be quiet, but she did great. She stood with us as we said the Pledge of Allegiance. She bowed her head as we prayed… she wasn’t still but for the most part, she did great.
As we stood there listening to the different speakers, Sunni, who was also working the booth, and I whispered about how hot it was. The sun had gone down, but in our tent there was no breeze. As we turned our attention back to the speaker, Aaron stepped up behind Sunni and I and whispered, “You know how hot y’all are… can you imagine how hot our guys are?” He motioned to the platform where several of our local law enforcement sat. Each and every one of them sat in their chair in uniform and wearing their protective vest.
Now, just to clarify, they did start out the event with water, but by this time, things had been rolling along for a bit. Sunni, Aaron and I quickly came to a decision to quietly and as unobtrusively as possible deliver water to them. As I walked over to the tub of ice waters, I spotted my little girl. “Kiera.” I stage whispered. “Do you want to go with me to deliver water to our officers?”
Without any hesitation, she nodded her head emphatically. I pointed to the platform where several of the law enforcement sat with their wives. “We are going to go up there.” I wanted her to understand that we would be walking in front of all the people.
“Ok. So, we will go behind and take them all waters?” She asked as she put her tiny hands in the ice bucket and pulled out bottles of water.
“Yes, baby. Are you ok with that?” I asked.
“Let’s go!” She said as she held six bottles of water to her chest. We quietly delivered the waters and turned to head back to our table. “Wait.” She said, pointing to the parking lot, where other officers were gathered to watch the ceremony. “They need water too.”
Unbeknownst to me, Kiera and Aaron had been delivering waters to the officers in the back of the event. Once she realized that there were other officers close the front, she immediately formed a plan of action.
“We have to hurry and get them water. You can go one way and I will go the other.” She stated as she speed walked back to the ice buckets of water.
“Ya…how about we stick together and I can carry more water while you hand them out?” I countered.
She quickly agreed and began to grab more ice-cold water bottles. As we headed over to the officers, she kept looking around for others that we might have missed. She quickly found several posted at a barricade and offered them water.
As her mom, I could not have been more proud. I watched her as she confidently walked up to these men and women, who put their lives on the line for us, each and every day. I watched as she walked up to them and spoke, not showing a hint of shyness. She made sure that we had not missed a single officer.
We walked back to the booth, just in time for the blue ‘candles’ to be handed out. Standing there, with Kiera by my side, we held our blue ‘candle’ to the sky as we sang along to “Amazing Grace.”
Holding her close to my side, we watched as they released the balloons to heaven in honor of law enforcement officers who had died in the line of duty. Sensing the solemnness, Kiera grabbed her baby doll and held it close to her chest as she asked what the balloons were doing.
Leaning down and with tears streaming freely down my cheeks, I explained to her that the balloons were going to heaven to thank the officers who had died while they kept us safe.
It was an amazing night. I was in awe of the turn out from the community as they stood to pray and honor our law enforcement. It was also an eye-opening night.
You see, sometimes, my innocent five-year old understands more than us jaded adults. She saw that our officers were hot and they needed water. She made it her goal to ensure that each one was taken care of. She saw them for the people they are.
It’s moments like these that remind us to take a step back and see the person behind the badge. The family that they have, the life they lead, the enormous responsibility they take on by wearing a badge and that in a moment’s notice, they would lay their life on the line to protect mine.
Thank you, to each and every one of you in our thin blue line.
Rowonna McNeely is a graphic artist for Willie’s T’s Screenprint & Embroidery. She is a mother of a five-year-old girl and step mother of two adult girls. Her crazy life includes a dog, Sloane and psychotic cat, Gracie. Both females. She is married to her prince, who is outnumbered by the opposite gender.
