SOCIAL MEDIA

July 29, 2018

A New Chapter

At 7 am this morning, my husband will walk out of police headquarters for the final time as a police officer. 25 years over just like that. Where did the time go? It was a good run. Most importantly, he is in one piece, something to be extremely thankful for in the climate of law enforcement today. Career wise, he served both our community and his co-workers with a dignity and kindness that has become increasingly rare these days. And he (almost) always did so with a smile on his face.


On a more personal note, it seems our whole lives together have revolved around his job. When I met him, he was a recent college graduate and working hard at getting hired in law enforcement while working as a lab assistant in a local hospital. His dad was also a cop and so it seemed to be in his blood from an early age.
He began the police academy the same week he turned 25. As soon as I finished college a couple of years later, we were married.
This was his first "official" picture. So young and full of promise.
We renovated multiple houses top to bottom while raising our 3 baby boys. By working lots (and lots!) of overtime, he made enough money so that I could stay home with our kids - something I never took for granted and will be forever grateful for. We dealt as best we could with his constantly rotating shifts. Our boys missed their daddy's presence on weekends, holidays and - most of all - on the regular evenings when his seat was empty at the dinner table. So we eventually saved enough of the profits we earned from all that sweat equity and remedied his absence by buying a fixer upper in the town where he worked so he could stop home on his breaks. This very fixer upper that I have been blogging about all these years. :)
We had originally planned on Billy working 30 years here and then moving on after our youngest completed school but you know what they say about the best laid plans...
The word retirement seems to conjure up thoughts of a life of leisure but that is not where we are headed just yet. With 2.5 kids to still get to and put through college, we are very much still in the midst of raising our family. We do have an opportunity to make some changes in the next year after our middle guy finishes high school and our youngest graduates from middle school, but we are just not sure about that right now. Billy will be beginning a new job in security in a few weeks. He will still be working nights and weekends. Turns out, we are so used to having time off together during the week, that we actually prefer that schedule. Go figure!

Billy also turns 50 this week. And we celebrated 22 years of marriage. What a week! What a journey it has been!! Oh, and I should also mention that our oldest boy (the little boy in the picture below) is in college studying criminal justice (what else?). Life just has a way of coming full circle, doesn't it?
Thank you, Billy. Thank you for always putting our family first, no matter what. I will never forget how you have provided for and supported our family as it grew all of these years. The loss of sleep and willingness to always work hard did not go unnoticed or unappreciated for one second. Congratulations on a job well done! Onward!!

Thank YOU so very much for reading this little blog and continuing to be a part of our journey. I hope that now that we are settling into this next chapter, we will have more energy and time for house projects. The stresses of uncertainty coupled with job hunting definitely zapped our creativity for a while. I am happy to say I have a to-do list a mile long and lots of ideas swirling in my head!

28 comments :

  1. Best wishes to your lovely family Courtney. And a sincere thank you to Billy for being on the street and keeping us safe all these years. A lot of the time law enforcement gets a bad rap but I appreciate them. What a great blog this morning. brought me to tears. KAREN

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  2. Congratulations Billy!! Thank you for serving in law enforcement... truly a thankless job!!!
    Enjoy this new chapter of your lives...the best is yet to come!
    Looking forward to it on the blog xo

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  3. Thank the good Lord for keeping him safe and watching over him. New chapters are exciting and sometimes scary but I think unless you take the risk, you can't see the rewards. Keep up the great work, all of you. Love and continued well wishes from Old Forge, NY.

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  4. What a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing it with us.

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  5. First congratulations to Billy and you! I have a friend whose hubby was a Chicago police officer and retired a few years ago. She was always concerned for her hubby's safety and praying he would return home each day. The hubby's parents were also officers in Chicago. Though know the son became a pharmacist because he did not want to concern his wife the way he saw his mother fretting. Anyway, yes indeed a new chapter has begun so enjoy it to the fullest with your family doing whatever makes you all happiest!

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  6. What a beautiful story. Congratulations to your family, thank you Billy for your service and thanks to you and your family for the sacrifice that allowed him to serve.

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  7. What a great tribute to your sweet hubby. Police officers and Firefighters are my hero's. They put in lots of hours away from their families to serve their communities. For that we are all grateful. Courtney our lives are very similar with Billy being a police officer and Terry being a firefighter. I too was fortunate to stay home when my girls were little to be an at home mom. That is something I will forever be grateful for too. With that said I know the sacrifices you made to do this. Congrats to Billy. May the future hold many new adventures as life continues to change and move forward. Hugs my friend.
    xoxo
    Kris

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  8. Congratulations to Bill on his retirement. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to your family and community. Blessings to you all. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  9. Congratulations to you both and thanks for your service.

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  10. Thank you for your service Billy!

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  11. Congratulations to your family! My husband also worked 35 years of 12 hour shift work.. I once told a friend he works shift hours, but the boys and I live it! I too was fortunate and blessed to be a stay at home Mom! We truly had many weekends and holidays without him,but we along had many days off during the week he participated in all their activities. So...congrats again on this chapter and much gratitude to your husband for his pub service!

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  12. Congratulations to you all! Praying for many blessings in the future! Life surprises you...10 years ago we would have never imagined how many turns it would take! Always an adventure...hang on for the ride!

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  13. Congratulations. Thank you for serving in law enforcement. Not always a pleasant experience. My son is a agent. Best wishes I your future.

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  14. Congratulations to your family and please tell your husband and your sons that I thank you all for his service. This is a fearful time for law enforcement and I pray for all of them each night. Thank you again.

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  15. this is a very moving love letter to your husband. I wish you both a very fulfilled and happy new adventure.

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  16. Congratulations to Billy and thank you for your service! What a major accomplishment and a reason for celebration. I love all the old photos, Courtney and I am excited to see what the next chapter holds for you.
    Cheers, my friend!
    Shelley

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  17. God bless you and your family! Please thank your husband for his service! Here's to new adventures! Andrea

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  18. Please thank him for his service!

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  19. Beautiful post, Courtney! It came straight from your heart with honesty and unabashed love and respect for your husband.

    I wish your family all the best during this transition. Life is comprised of so many stages. Its sort of exciting to see what is around the corner. Finally, please thank your husband for all of his hard work and bravery.

    Jane

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  20. Love this post. Thank you. We are a police family too. My husband retired from Met Police in London in 2009 after 30 years! After a few other jobs (we too had a family to raise) he is now employed by Northamptonshire Police as a civilian Safeguarding Officer. Our oldest son is completing his probationary period as a Police Officer too. Thank you for your service. Behind every great man ….. x

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  21. Thank you for your service! Being a LEO is hard, hence why my cj & paralegal degrees sit un used ha. You two are a beautiful couple! Cheers to manyyyy more years & some downtime together!!! ♡♡♡♡♡♡

    Paige.Rose
    from
    TheQuaintSanctuary.com

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  22. God bless your family. I too come from a family of blue.

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  23. Congratulations & Best Wishes to your husband on his retirement! Reading your story made me smile because it sounds so very similar to mine. My husband retired 6 years ago after 23 years on the force. The way the world is today, I'm sure his retirement is a welcome relief to you & your family. Enjoy & God Bless!

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  24. Thank you for sharing, what a lovely post :)

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  25. Congratulations to Billy on his retirement and best wishes on his next career venture! Thank you for sharing your family, dreams and gorgeous home projects with us all this time! Looking forward to more projects! God bless! From one Jersey girl to another - Your House Rocks! xo

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  26. Congratulations and please thank him for his service. Thank you for sharing your family and blog, it's truly one of my favorites!!

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  27. I'll be honest and say that I teared up a little bit over here (such an emotional soul). You're writing is so beautiful and full of emotion, thanks for sharing a piece of your heart with us!

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  28. Congratulations to Billy and to your whole family! Wishing you all a loving, safe and blessed time as you move into the next phase of life!

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