I just finished reading Relentless Courage by Michael Sugrue and Shauna 'Doc' Springer, Ph.D. Every chapter in this book hit home for me. I wanted to read it because our youngest is a Peace Officer, but also because (1)we are a family of First Responders and (2) part of my healing journey has been to minister to others, so I try to study, read, and connect to more stories of overcoming.
I only recently became a First Responder, so recently that I still don't see my self as one, but I have been a wife and sister of volunteer Fire Fighters for 20 years. And I have watched as our boys stepped into their roles as volunteer Fire Fighters, a US Marine, and a Sheriff's Deputy. I have watched as their roles have molded them into who they are today. I have watched two or three or all of my family sit around and "debrief" after a call. I have watched how a call affects them differently. I also have thought about how the trauma of a wildfire and other crises caused me to struggle through PTSD, but drove my husband and our boys to step into roles of protecting our family, community and country.
So many of us wonder in awe at the men and women we see run toward danger while everyone else runs from it, but we don't take the time to check on them. We expect them to be strong enough to deal since they are strong enough to face danger. We need to remember, as Michael and Doc point to in the book, trauma can affect anyone at anytime and in different ways.
Relentless Courage is a journey.
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