Gathering Places
Gathering Places
Lately, things have been getting dangerous for Honolulu Police Department officers. For a police officer’s
family, the anxiety
never endsWhen two of them were shot after stopping a van on the H-2 freeway on April 18, my daughter called to ask me where my husband, a police sergeant, was. At the time I had no knowledge of what was happening.
I called the Pearl City Police Station to check on my husband. Luckily, he was not involved in the shooting, although he was called to assist afterward.
It's a terrible thing to receive word that your spouse or a family member in the HPD has been wounded, injured or killed. I can't imagine what thoughts and emotions overwhelm the person who receives such news.
People don't really know what police officers go through on the job. Even their spouses and family members never truly know the emotions and conflicts the officer confronts every day. They have to deal with peoples' worst problems. Even the kindest person, when put in a bad situation, can react in a way that you'd never expect.It would be interesting to read about the thoughts and feelings of the officer's spouse and family. The families of HPD officers don't have the opportunity to vent their feelings about their lives with the officer and the Honolulu Police Department itself.
It's not easy being the spouse of an HPD officer. Neither is it easy for the officer to deal with his or her job and then to handle disappointments from family members.
When duty calls, the family is left behind. After years go by, you become accustomed to not having your spouse with you on special occasions and during natural disasters since they leave you and your family to go and protect everyone else and see that they are safe. I have the hardest time coping when my husband leaves his family when a hurricane is heading for the islands.
I don't know if many people realize what an officer and his family give up so that they can serve and protect others.
Life is very short. Time just flies, and the years pass us all by. People these days rush through their lives. They don't enjoy life like they should. They work and work, trying to make the most money that they can. What happens to the children and the family unit? People are surprised at how hardened the world is becoming. Our children are killing our children.
We have forgotten our values and our priorities. People are getting more angry and not relaxing and enjoying each other. The most precious moments should be in getting to know each other and being grateful that we have an opportunity to really know another person and to be a part of their lives; to share special times with each other and to help each other and to love one another.
When that person is dead, you can't have that time back with them, to know their thoughts and opinions and their dreams in life, and to hear the stories they have to tell about their lives.
People need to come together and let go of their anger. If we don't change our ways and thinking, things will only get worse. When you are loved, it's hard to hang on to anger. We are all children at heart, only our bodies grow old.
All of us make mistakes, but without forgiveness, what will happen to our quality of life? We need to care about each other and to help each other. Together life is easier; alone it is a constant struggle.
I guess it is frustrating sometimes when the HPD officer is not recognized for the dangerous job that he does every day. It's not like most jobs. When you go to work, only God knows if you will live until tomorrow. I wonder how police officers faces that reality every day?
Diane L. Favreau-Chung is a freelance artist
and the wife of Police Sgt. Clayton E. Chung.