It’s a sign that things are just getting started.

It’s a sign that one man who cared can make a difference.

It’s a sign that David Glasser’s legacy of love is destined to have a permanent effect on the kids who live in Laveen….and beyond.

David Glasser, my son, was a Phoenix Police Officer who was killed in the line of duty on May 19, 2016.  He loved being a police officer and he committed his life to helping make the streets of Phoenix a safer place for you and I to live.  He wanted to make a difference by working as one of the good guys, making our communities safer for our kids to play in.  He asked to work in the highest risk areas of Phoenix in order to protect you and me from the dangerous people who prowl the streets of those neighborhoods.

Everyone who drives by this plaque in Laveen is reminded of the day that the City of Phoenix lost a hero.

Last year, the Laveen Elementary School District decided to honor Davey and his memory by naming the athletic field they were building after him.  What a great idea!  Davey loved sports – all of them.  He was a huge fan of the Cardinals, the Diamondbacks and all of the ASU sports teams.  The Cardinals are having a really tough season this year so far and, if Davey were here, he would be talking loud and long about ‘fair weather fans’.  Loyalty was a huge issue for Davey.

Davey played baseball and basketball, focusing on basketball as he got into high school and onto the varsity team.  He knew a lot about sports and planned to become a coach after he retired from the police department.  That’s one of the many dreams which will never come true.

But Davey never dreamed that an athletic complex would be named after him.  And that has come true.  Here’s the sign:

It’s a beautiful complex at 5001 West Dobbins Road in Laveen.  Stop in sometime and take a look.

There is not a more appropriate way to honor Davey than by naming a sports complex after him.  And there is no better place for it than in the middle of the community he died serving.  Kids playing sports on these fields for many years to come will be reminded of a Police Officer who cared enough to work hard in their community to help keep them safe.  His love for his community lives on here at these fields.

It’s a sign that great things are going to happen here and it’s all just getting started.

Miss you, Davey.

#8144loveyou

 

It happened yesterday.

I was honored to be asked to share my experience of the line of duty death of my son, David Glasser, a Phoenix Police Officer, at a one-day women’s retreat yesterday.  My family was a part of the church family where the retreat was held for 28 years and this was the village that helped grow Davey and my daughter, Katie.

It was the first time I’ve told this story out loud to a big group of people so I spent a lot of time preparing.  So much has happened, it took a lot of prayer to figure out what to include.

If you read this blog, you have read something about most of the lessons I have learned on this journey so far.  One of them is – the question is not ‘if’ something bad is going to happen to you.  The question is ‘when’.

I don’t share that to scare anyone – it’s just the truth.  We all have our tough times and tragedies.

I have realized that one of the ways God prepared me for the trials surrounding Davey’s death was by challenging me to memorize the first chapter of the book of James from the Bible.  James 1 is wisdom scripture.  God knew I was going to need wisdom and I was going to need it to be readily available when there was no time to consult a Bible.  So, about 1 1/2 years before Davey was killed, God challenged me and I memorized James 1.

You don’t understand what a big deal this is – let me explain.  I have an awful memory.  I’ll confess – even though I’ve known you for a very long time, sometimes I just can’t remember your name.  Don’t ask me to be on your trivia team – you’ll be very disappointed.  I never know who wrote what or who did what or what year it happened.

But God proved to me that I can memorize scripture – with his help.  I write the scripture on index cards and get my cards out hundreds of times and God etches his words onto my brain.  That’s how it works.  It’s a supernatural partnership that is very cool and very obvious to me since my memory is so bad for everything else.

As I was sharing the supernatural part of memorizing James 1 yesterday, it sounded like a bucket-full of rocks was dropped on the roof of the church right above me.  It was so loud that I stopped my story, looked up and asked, “What was that?”

I received answers back like “It started raining”, “It’s the wind” and then someone said, “I think that was Davey.”

Cool.

I didn’t think about it again until later, when a couple of women pointed out to me that it had not started raining and it wasn’t windy.

Was it Davey?

What do you think?

Miss you, Davey.

#8144loveyou

 

It has been two and a half years since my son, David Glasser, a Phoenix Police Officer, was killed in the line of duty.

The worst happened.

Our worlds exploded.

The first many months a fog of pain and confusion swirled around in our heads each day.  The first year is tough and I think the second year is even worse in some ways.  The permanence of the situation becomes very evident in the second year and is extremely difficult to deal with.

The hole in our lives is growing bigger.  There are more and more events and things Davey is missing.  He should have been there.

But we’re figuring out how forward.  That’s what Davey would have wanted.  God is giving us strength and he is helping us get used to living with the hole.

We have discovered that love is the answer.

Davey left us a legacy of love which is much bigger than the 2 simple words, “Love you”.  The love and care behind those words filled many dark times in our lives these last 2 1/2 years.

Davey knew how important these two words were so he used them with us all the time.  At his funeral, I was surprised to hear that he also used them with his squad all the time – and he was adamant that they say it back to him.  He realized how quickly life could end and he wanted those words to be the last thing anyone he cared about heard him say.

‘Love you’ has transformed our journey because its hard to be bitter when everyone around you is saying they love you.  It’s hard to be angry when you’re surrounded by love.  It’s hard to feel alone when all around you arms of love are reaching out to hug you.

And Davey’s legacy of love is bigger than just us.  His love for our city has motivated the creation of the David Glasser Foundation in order to continue the work Davey started.  His foundation is just getting started but we are already seeing some of our dreams of what the foundation can accomplish in Davey’s name coming true.

And there is much more to Davey’s legacy of love.  Because he loved others so freely, his life and death has affected people across our city.  The ripples of his legacy of love have spread through other families and friends out into other states and across the nation as we come to understand how short life is and how important love is.

Love is a gift from God and Davey gave that gift to all of us.

Thank you, Davey.

Miss you.

#8144loveyou

Expose them to the culture they will be living in, working in and hopefully making a difference in.

Help them learn to be resilient as they experience how unfair our world is and how disappointing it can be.

Teach them to be good winners and even better losers.

If they live in a city so they need to be city-smart.  They need to watch for danger and know how to react.  They need to get to know the city and be comfortable in it.

Train them to become independent and self-sufficient at a young age.

Help them learn how to handle the truth – the good and the bad.

Give them tools to overcome their fears and feel confident in facing each day in our uncertain world.

Teach them about God – his love, his grace and his strength as he walks beside them every day,  He is light and they will need light in order to find their way in this dark place we live in.

These are some of the strategies my husband and I used raising our children.  Our son, David Glasser, was a Phoenix Police Officer who was killed in the line of duty on May 18, 2016.  These strategies helped make Davey an awesome son, a great friend, a wonderful husband and a fantastic dad.  They also helped him become an excellent police officer who made a positive difference in our city.

Davey was tough.  He understood his culture and was not scared of facing down the evil that prowls within it.  He experienced how unfair our world is and didn’t let it stop him from being passionate about what he did.

The truth was extremely important to Davey – he didn’t hide from it.  His integrity was rock solid – that’s how he lived his life.  He challenged others around him to also live with integrity and he was disappointed when anyone he cared about missed the mark.

All of his life, Davey always wanted to know the rules.  He thought following the rules was very important.  His fun-loving, adventurous side also liked to stretch the rules and bend the rules, but he didn’t break the rules.  Even as a kid, he did whatever it took to avoid getting into trouble.  As a police officer, he wanted to work in the worst parts of the city so he could take the people who broke the laws off of the streets and put them behind bars where they belong.

Davey loved God.  He identified himself as God’s soldier as he went out to battle each day.  He understood that he was fighting evil in the name of God – trying to push back the darkness to help make this world a safer place for you and me.

Davey put himself on the front line because God had given him a warrior’s heart.  We found this scripture on Davey’s phone after he was killed.

Miss you, Davey.

#8144loveyou