With hurricane Florence making its way towards the east coast, my heart was in my stomach thinking about the possibilities of what could happen to my boyfriend. He is a Norfolk police officer, and a member of the Coast Guard - if the storm hit hard enough, he would be pulled out to work the storm and be right in the center of harm's way.

I was beyond paranoid.

Fortunately, we were lucky. As the girlfriend of a police officer, there is a constant worry that is only amplified when a disaster is bound to hit. He goes to work for 12 hours at a time, most of which I do not hear from him, so by the time he gets off if I don't hear from him, my mind instinctually assumes the worst. Despite the fact that it is very unlikely for anything bad to happen to him, what-ifs are always on my mind.

What if there's an accident?

What if something happens to him?

What if he's injured?

What if he's shot?

What if he's killed?

I am generally an anxious person, so once he got on the streets, that only increased. He can be a thrill seeker and he's excited to be hands-on in his career.

Especially during the night shift month, I can't go to bed without asking God to watch over Ry and keep him and the rest of his squad safe. I like to keep this verse in mind: Philippians 4:6- "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

I'm still figuring this out myself every day, but the one piece of advice I can give to any other significant others in a similar situation is to communicate your fears. My boyfriend was raised in a military and law enforcement family, so he has literally grown up with the knowledge and experiences he's living with now. I, on the other hand, know nothing, so I'm constantly reminding him that he has to simplify it or else I won't understand him. He makes sure to call me on his way into work and out of work so I know everything is okay and I can ease my mind.

We've found a system that works for us so that I always know he's okay when I go to bed and get up in the morning. It makes it so much easier, especially when our days are opposite during the night shift periods. Something that might not be comforting or helpful to others, but works for us is he tells me about his day, we actively talk about his day and mine instead of ignoring the potential that something happened.

Some days are harder than others, but most of all, I'm grateful that he is so strong and caring for me during this adjusting period (because let's be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing!)