Paula’s Butterfly Mind

          It’s been too long since I last posted.  But things have been a kind of crazy this summer.  That somehow seems to turn time inside-out!  I’ve been busy in a class with APD.  Then some very sad things have happened this summer… the loss of Sgt. Joe Harris and the loss of one of our fellow Sheriff’s Office CPU members.  But some good things have also happened, like finding love when I least expected it.  It’s hard to believe that it’s almost Balloon Fiesta time.  So here we are on the brink of October, with Christmas not far beyond! 

             Within the first couple of weeks in June came my 12 week course of classes with the Albuquerque Police Dept. (APD) Citizen’s Police Academy.  That was two, 3-hour nights each week.  My Mom and I took the classes together.  It was very enjoyable, but took a lot of time.  In addition to the regular evening classes, we also had the opportunity to participate in a few “field trips.”  My favorite “field trips” were to the APD shooting range and the Ride Along with an Officer.  The Ride Along is an entire other story that I might tell you sometime later.  THAT was a blast!  I’d do it again in a heartbeat if ever given that opportunity again! 

           About half way thorough my APD classes, on July 16^th, 2009… I learned that my friend and mentor, Sgt. Joe Harris, of the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) was killed in the line of duty.  Losing Joe has been a horrible loss.  Those of us in the Sheriff’s Office are still trying to wrap our brains around it, as I’m sure is anyone else who knew him.  It still doesn’t seem possible.  He was the head of our Crime Prevention Unit (CPU), of which I am a proud member.  Joe recruited each one of us himself for his unit.  I still cannot believe he has been taken from us!  It was not but a few weeks later that I learned that Cathy, one of our beloved SCSO Crime Prevention Unit members, had lost her battle with cancer.  Loosing her was the third loss our unit has sustained this year.  Mere words are insufficient to express our sadness.  To put it in a simple paragraph like this, just doesn’t adequately express how difficult the losses have been for us to go through… and we will be going through them for many months.  But we are trying to continue on with the work that Joe started us on & that was so important to Cathy and the rest of us.  What better tribute could we give them? 

             In early August, my conceal carry license arrived.  Within the next couple of weeks I treated myself to a new firearm.  I felt that I needed something a little easier to carry as a conceal weapon.  I now have a Springfield Armory XD Subcompact .40.  The sad side of that is that Joe was my instructor and he had wanted me to call him when the license arrived.  It was an exciting time, but I didn’t get to share it with him after all.  I had been planning to buy my first gun from him, but of course, that all changed.  But, I know he is smiling down on us and enjoying our milestones with us, just from another place. 

             A short time later, my Mom & I graduated the APD Citizen’s Police Academy.  As much as I enjoyed it, I am glad to get my Tuesday and Thursday evenings back.  And just in time to share them with someone very special to me.  His name is Danny.  We share the Sheriff’s Office CPU work in common.  It is looking like this is the beginning of a wonderful, long-term, partnership.  I am so incredibly lucky to have found him.  I’ll keep you posted. 
            I suppose that’s all for now.  I’ll try to be better about posting in the future! 

Be well!! 
~Paula