//FREEDOM+

+My wonderfully wonderful husband happens to be a wonderfully wonderful Police Officer. 

And let me tell ya. When your husband becomes a Police Officer, it is not just a career choice - it is now your life. 

I am married to Cole, first and foremost. When he comes home from work, he takes off the duty belt and holsters and badge, and he is immediately the goofy, happy-go-lucky boy I married. 

But during the day, I am married to Officer Peterson.

And sometimes it feels like a really big sacrifice.

The weeks where it feels like he only has time to sleep; the times his phone goes to voicemail for the third time in a row; the nights where we stare at the television as they talk about, yet another, cop who has been shot at. 

I don't know if you've ever called your husband, and assumed he isn't answering his phone because he's busy - but as the hours pass, your start to check KSL every 45 seconds to make sure his face isn't on one of the pages - but it will change your life. It will change the way you love your husband, and it will absolutely change the lengths you will go to support him. 

Sometimes it feels like a really big sacrifice. 

And, on those days, almost every single time, people decide it's their place to tell me why my husband's career is so corrupt.
They actually find it their duty to read me off a list of generalized faults.
They somehow find a way to justify criticizing my hard-working, selfless, genuinely nice husband, a day after a police shooting.
At one point, someone actually decided it was their place to tell me that "police marriages are more prone to divorce and spousal abuse." 

Even after the memorials, the funerals, the worldwide "moments of silence" - people put a half-ass hand on their heart, and turn around and post "Police Brutality" videos the next day.

Sometimes it feels like a really big sacrifice.

Because I think, why is he even doing this? Why on Earth am I letting my husband walk onto a literal battlefield, day after day after day, if nobody appreciates him? Why should I have to potentially sacrifice the person I love most in this world for the ungrateful, unappreciative, unintelligent 'critics'?

Like, people are screaming at the world that my husband is power-hungry and manipulative, while he's at the Elementary School, handing out suckers and high-fiving kids in the hallway.

My husband is the nicest human being I have ever met in my life. He works so hard, and genuinely believes in people and their potential. 

And the #1 thing I've learned while on "date night ride-a-longs" is that my husband is just a genuinely nice Police Officer. 

And guess what kind of people his Police team are? NICE. They're just sweet and happy and light-hearted. 

And that kind threw me off guard at first.

I'm in the passenger seat like, "HAUL HIS ASS TO JAIL BABE!"
And he is nothing but nice and respectful to whoever he just pulled over.

Like, how many people do I have to record THANKING my husband as their being handcuffed, to convince you that the majority of Police Officers are just classy people?

Freak, I cry when I type about him almost always.
I just used to be really freakin' scared.
Not even just scared of him "fighting crime", but scared that he'd see the darkest parts of the world, and stop being...well, Cole.
But, lo and behold, Cole Peterson was born for this, somehow, and it doesn't change him, and he continues just absolutely melting me.

And so, not even as Officer Peterson's wife, but as Cole's wife, I find it my duty to support his career life, and defend his sweet, happy, heroic name.

Guys. Kids have lost dads. Wives have lost husbands. And it return, one of you got to stay with yours.

PEOPLE. These men are HEROES. They run into rooms with zero knowledge of what's on the other side of the door. They walk up to car windows, in the middle of the night, unaware of what potentially life-ending weapons could be in the car. They run towards explosions, for Pete's Sake.

So one of these days, maybe take a minute out of your lives, and be grateful. Because folks, FREEDOM AIN'T FREE. 

And for some people, freedom feels a lot like a really big sacrifice. 

"People ask me if I feel bad or sad because I knew these cops who died. People say, 'You must be heartbroken.' And I say, I don't feel sorrow for one single person. What I feel is pride. I am proud of every one of them. Because they gave themselves, and that's what you raise your right hand for. I served, and I served proudly. And I would do it again. I wouldn't hesitate one bit.

I chose to serve the people, and I wouldn't trade being a cop for the world. I'm not even a registered voter. I have never cast a vote in my life. I'm not a Democrat, I'm not a Republican. I am a servant of the people. I don't care who you are, I don't care what you believe in, I don't care what your religion is, I don't care what color your skin is. I was there to serve, and I served."
-September 11th Officer

+I am proud to be part of the Lehi Police Department, and I am lucky to be Cole's wife.