On my way home from the farmers market this morning, I pulled into the Shell station to get gas. To my surprise, they were completely out of regular gas. I thought no big deal, I’ll just go down the road a couple miles to the next station. Well, I didn’t make it. I ran out of gas.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking… I should have filled up sooner. You’re right, but here we are. Myla was screaming, the sun was beating down, and it was hot. I called a tow company to bring gas, but they told me it would be an hour wait. That’s when I called and asked if an officer could at least let us sit in their car with the air conditioning until help arrived.
Officer Larison from Kalamazoo Public Safety showed up and immediately made everything better. She didn’t just let us sit in her car. She told me to cancel the tow, called one of her fellow officers, and had them bring over a gas can. After filling my tank, she even followed me to the station to make sure we got there safely.
While we were waiting in her car, I asked if she wanted to hold Myla. I have never seen Myla smile so big or talk so much. It was such a sweet moment.
Sitting there, I couldn’t help but think about how often we hear negative things about police officers. But today reminded me that they are people just like us. They have hearts, they care, and they want to help. This is what police officers do. This is why they matter.
Thank you, Officer Larison, and the officer who brought the gas. You turned a stressful moment into something I’ll never forget.