Working While I Work...
Posted by Katie Ray on
Hey everyone! This is Katie coming to you from my awesome job! You may or may not know that I work in a dispatch center for law enforcement and I work the graveyard shift, so there is often a lot of down time; which subsequently works out well for me! I’m lucky enough to be able to do two things that I love at the same time. I’ve been working for my department for just about 17 years now and couldn’t love it more! I enjoy being able to serve my community and support the men and women who protect us and put their lives on the line for us on a daily basis. Jen’s brother also works in law enforcement so supporting our men and women in blue is important to us both.
When I have down time at work I’m always working on some sort of crochet project. The project I’m currently working on is super special to me because of who it’s for; Officer Ames. I have been working with Officer Ames now for about 5 years (probably more to be honest). I first worked with him in a big communications center and only knew him by voice and call sign, but even then every officer a dispatcher works with are like family. One night just like every other night worked before, my friend was working our busiest radio, and she had a unit asking for an additional unit because the driver was being uncooperative. Officer Ames went en route to assist his fellow officer; shortly after getting on scene shots were fired and Officer Ames had been shot.
At this point, like I said previously I didn’t know Officer Ames personally but my heart stopped as did everyone else’s in the room, which was about 20 dispatchers. There was a wave of silence that was eerily unusual in our center as we all waited to hear if the shots were fatal. Luckily Officer Ames survived and went on to return to full duty; and now I work with him in a different smaller center where I get to see him and work with him a few times a week.
Officer Ames saw me working on a blanket I was crocheting for a custom order and asked if he could order a blanket from me. I was honored and of course agreed. Now to say this blanket has been a pain in the butt is an understatement HAHA!! but I just remember who it’s for and what he’s done for me and everyone else in our community and I continue to pour all the love and prayer into it while I work. I will hopefully be finished with the blanket in the next week or so, and I’m so excited to show you guys!
Thank you for reading and being apart of our blog! Remember to support your local law enforcement, they need it now more than ever!
If you’d like to donate to officers like Officer Ames click here or consider looking for your local law enforcement office.
Update 9/2020: We launched an online store last year! Check out our unique handmade jewelry designs