The day we met was hands down the worst day of my entire life. It is a day that will forever be burned into my mind and will continue to define who I am for the rest of my life. The day we met, it was cloudy and the storm rolling in made everything seem more menacing. The air was sticky and the hotel was stale. I didn’t even have shoes on my feet and I’m sure I looked like I’d just returned from the gates of hell, because I felt like I was still there. The day we met, you rushed by me, trying to assess the scene, doing your job and fighting the urge to hug me and get me away from the horror of that room. You met a scene you’ve probably encountered a handful of times in your line of work. Yet, I could tell it still hit you with an immense amount of sorrow.

You sent one of your finest to sit and talk with me, gently asking me questions and giving me comfort when I could barely speak a word. He sat with me for hours as y'all surveyed everything and did everything your job entailed. He attempted, and succeeded a few times, to make me laugh and forget the horror I had just experienced, even if it was just for a moment. He guarded me from other people throughout the hotel. He shielded me from the horrors y’all had to face as y'all continued your jobs and did what had to be done. He escorted me down to another room, as far away from the nightmare as y’all possibly could allow. He sat with me and waited as your Victim’s Services advocate rushed to be there with me. Y'all sat outside my room and watched over me until my parents came. Y’all consoled my parents and gave us all the time we needed to process everything that had occurred that terrible Sunday morning.

In the weeks following, your Victims’ Services advocate was there, helping my family and I every step of the way. She spent countess hours messaging me back and forth and staying on the phone with me to talk some sense into the sudden chaos that was my life. She consoled me and was my shoulder to lean on, and to this day we still talk and she has become part of the family. If it wasn’t for her, I’d still be as lost as I was the day we all met.

I wanted to write this because I never got a chance to thank y’all for everything y’all did for my family and I that day. I never got a chance to shake y’all’s hands or give y’all a well deserved hug after the shock of everything wore down to something a little duller. I never got to express the gratitude I am now overwhelmed with as I try to type this letter. Y’all put your lives on the line every day for people you don’t even know. Y’all rush into building that everyone else is trying to escape to stop the bad guys. Y’all experience hardship and heartache every time y’all go out on a hard call. Yet everyday y’all go to work like it’s just another day in the office. You wear your badges with pride and you always do your best to be the hero at the end of the day. And that day, y’all were my heroes.

My life will forever be changed because of that day. I know that that day will also have a lasting effect on each and every one of you. Fortunately, not everyone experiences tragedy as I have, but y’all face it every day y'all clock into work. I admire y’all for your generous and selfless hearts. Without police and without good people, this world would be a terrible terrible place. So thank you for everything you did for me that day and everything you continue to do to make this world a better place. There will never be enough words to express my gratitude and this world will never be able to repay you for your services.

Special thanks to Buda PD for being my heroes.