Two weeks ago a horrible tragedy struck our family. I have tried to sit down and write about this a few times over the last two weeks, but I just couldn’t get through it. On Friday, September 7, 2018 my precious two year old granddaughter lost her father who was a police officer killed in the line of duty.

The week leading up to his funeral was long and torturous. Every single time that I look into Stormi’s eyes I see her father Kirt. She has his eyes. She is too young to understand why she hasn’t seen her daddy lately, but one day she will. She has asked for him several times in the last two weeks and each time she has mentioned him I have broken down in tears. All I know to say to her is that her daddy is in Heaven with Jesus. I made sure to get a lot of pictures of her at her daddy’s funeral because she will want to know that she was there.

My daughter Sidney, Stormi’s mother, is only nineteen years old. Even though she and Kirt were not married, they were extremely close and successfully managing to co-parent their daughter together. Watching Sidney go through something like this has been extremely difficult on my momma heart. They were engaged to be married until they decided to call off the wedding. But they were still best friends and talked everyday. Kirt was a great father. He loved Stormi with every breath he had, and Sidney and Kirt were close. The idea of Stormi growing up never knowing her father breaks my heart! And the thought of my daughter having to face this for the rest of her life breaks my heart even more.

One thing I know for sure is that God always has a plan. We may be left here on this side of Heaven feeling sad for our loss, but we can rest assured that God chose to take Kirt home to Heaven for a reason. One thing I know for sure is this: His death has brought our families closer together, and we all vow to make sure Stormi grows up knowing how much Kirt loved her. She will grow up believing that he was her hero!

The police community has banded together unlike anything that I have ever seen. Stormi recognizes the uniform and knows that they are her people. She and Sidney will always be a member of the thin blue line family, and the family of other fallen officers. It is truly heartwarming to see how other officers flock to Stormi and vow to protect her. I can see it now. On Stormi’s first date, that boy may not have to worry about meeting her father. But he better get prepared to possibly pass a background check and be police escorted everywhere they go. LOL.