Taylor has a very deep interest in police work, especially the K9 unit. Seems completely natural given all her military stuff. I have posted about her doing work with the St. Joseph County Sheriff and now, she gets to add being with the Michigan State Police!
There is a trooper that goes to her Marine Corps League meetings and we got to talking about how much she loves the K9, he told me to hang tight and he was going to see if he could do something. Awhile later I got the call that he had set things up, had to go all the way up the brass, but it was ok'd for her to spend a day with some handlers.
Her main guy, Trooper Marhall and his dog Remy were a dream come true for her! Trooper Marshall was like a long lost friend to her and he was more the wonderful. There were 4 troopers all together, Trooper Service and Dodger, Trooper Maki and Mannie, and Trooper Booms and Lex.
Now I have to tell you, almost instantly Taylor and I felt like complete total idiots once we saw the dogs. No one will ever understand just how intelligent these magnificent animals are or how incredibly loyal they are to not only their job, but their handlers unless you see it up close and first hand. No words even come to mind to do it justice.
The troopers took their time to explain every single detail to her and allowed her to help out on a few training exercises. We spent all day long with them and there was not a moment that passed that we weren't in complete and total awe. These guys love their job and they put all they can into it and it shows. In turn, their dogs give that and even more.
She got to help in tracking, drug search, explosives and doing a search for specific items. She got to ride in a MSP Tahoe and if you don't think that made her feel 6 ft tall, you don't know Taylor very well!
Through out the whole day though, I was sat back a few times and just smiled in my heart. Just like all the military guys, these guys took her in and treated her like one of their own. If they skimped on details or what they were doing, they sure didn't make it obvious. They made her feel like one of them, she was there with them and they made sure that she knew what was going on, how and why. They didn't treat her like a sick kid or that anything was wrong with her, they treated her with respect and made her feel like she was important. How do I say thank you for that? How do I make them realize just how special they are for what they did for my child? I think by their actions though, they already know it.
Taylor just had a big heart appointment and it was scary for her. I sent out a small plea for help in keeping her moral up and the email she got from Trooper Marshall, well, it made all the difference in the world to her. My hope is, this is a start of a new friendship for her and a new door for her has opened.
No comments:
Post a Comment