A MILESTONE BIRTHDAY

I have never been into celebrating my own birthday. For other people I like to go all out if I can, especially on milestone birthdays. But when you have a birthday so close to Christmas, it always seems like it melds into the party festivities that lead up to Christmas Day. There have been attempts to surprise me, like on my 30th, and then 40th birthday, when I arrived an hour early to my Mother's house and I got to surprise the guests in return by opening the door and greeting them to my own surprise party. So on today, my 50th birthday, I am reasonably certain there will be no party, and that is okay with me.

Fifty years have gone by and as we drive through the Rockies of Wyoming, and I have the snow covered mountains to gaze upon, I ponder what a great life it has been so far. Very early in life, I set my sights on a career in law enforcement. From age 15 until I took an early retirement in 2006, that is exactly what I did. Starting out as an Explorer Scout, then Cadet with the Modesto PD, to my first dispatching job with Ceres PD. Then onto a larger department dispatching for the Stanislaus County S/O and finally ending my career 33 years later with San Jose PD as a supervisor in the Communication Center.

Along the way I would like to think that I made a difference somehow. Having no children of my own, I want to leave a legacy, a mark that yes, I was here and it mattered. During my career, I have been involved in many high profile cases, from kidnapping, to murder, to every dispatcher's nightmare, having an officer shot and wounded while on my channel. But it's the small every day activities that I have often wondered, do they make a difference?. Random acts of kindness, pay it forward, do unto others. And then I suppose the real gift is probably in not knowing, do it anyway, without the benefit of knowing the results.

So as I enter my last 50 years, I am so thankful for where I have been and where I am still left to go. There are no gifts I could receive on this birthday more special than the ones I receive everyday, the love of my family and friends, but especially my husband Craig, who has given the greatest gift of all, this wonderful adventure we are presently on to travel and see the country. And more precious than that, the time we are spending enjoying it together, struggling through frustration that sometimes comes from the life on the road, but mostly laughing, having fun, and sharing it all together. What better present could there be?