Mixed Emotions

We had three days to gear up for this new chapter in our lives, and I found myself having very mixed emotions as we headed into this new phase.

First of all, I was a little ticked off that they had left him (and therefore us) hanging like that. I mean, Roc was involved in a family business, and everyone knew what was coming, so them calling us 3 days prior to entering the academy was not the biggest deal. But what about someone who had a job, and wanted to give the requisite two-weeks notice?

I was filled with emotion; anticipation, perhaps a little bit of fear of the unknown. I walked into the gym the day before he entered and buddied up against my co-worker, Ned. Ned was an ex-NYPD officer, retired at the age of 45, now working at the gym part-time for the benefit of a free membership.

"Hey Ned, he got the call." I shrugged my shoulders. At that point, there wasn't much more to say.

"Great! Good. I'm telling you, he's going to love it. Whattsamatter? You look worried."

I explained to him how I felt like the NYPD had kept him hanging on a string and how I didn't like the smell of it.

"You have to understand that the NYPD is a Paramilitary Organization. It's not like a regular job. It's kind of like the Army, but not...I can't explain it to you, but you've just got to go with the flow."

I guessed so. But as I stood there talking to a guy who was already done with his NYPD career at the age of 45, I wondered how my 34-year-old newbie would fare. He ended up getting the Day shift academy and his hours were going to be 7am-3pm. He figured he could swing off the train and jump into the business before rolling home and falling into bed. I would now be in charge of it all: taking care of the dog, setting the coffee pot the night before, cheering him on from the rafters.

Little did I know that it was going to be harder than we ever thought it would be...and that's putting it lightly.