Partners, Friends for Life

I am often reminded of all of the sacrifice and pain that comes with this noble profession of policing I am lucky enough to be part of.  And the more recent years, especially through the process of my development and growth as a Life Coach, I am reminded that we are not on this journey alone.  All things have greater value when shared, and we certainly live our best lives with the gift of others who show up for us.

Mike Collins and I were partners when we began our careers in the 70th Precinct, Brooklyn. Our friendship grew as the years went on, both being lucky enough to go through the ranks. In the year 2000 we were both partners again, two Chiefs in Brooklyn South. That was really awesome. We would spend so much time in one of our offices rehashing old stories. So often people would come in to get a report signed or to get a decision made and we would just start telling old stories. The way they would sometimes leave without getting that question answered reminds me of when George would back out of Steinbrenner's office in the show Seinfeld. 🤣🤣🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️.

On September 11th, we both suffered personal losses, in addition to the pain our whole city was feeling. It was serendipitous that we were both there for each other, when we needed it most. Life is like that. When we look back we see that one or two or three people just showed up for us when we needed them most. And then, fast forward a couple of years and Mike asked me a question that I will always cherish, "Will you be my best man?" (Mike's brothers would later tell me that he asked them but they said no 😂) During my toast I spoke about how wonderful life is because new friends continually come into our lives. I so appreciate the "new friend" in my life, Maureen Collins.  More to come for us!

(By the way, the old photo of us as young police officers was taken by Louie Miller. He trained us and hundreds of young cops in the 1980s. Tragically he was killed in the line of duty on March 11, 1987.)