Praying for the Police. And the Safety and Sanity of Everyone Today.

Tension are high in the city of Chicago today. We are all anxiously awaiting the verdict in the LaQuan McDonald case. A case that has caused so much tension in this city for two years.

Will Jason Van Dyke be found guilty in the death of LaQuan McDonald? And if so on what charge? Everyone thinks they know, but the truth is no one has any idea until we here it from the jury.

But that's not the point of this post. Because I'm no expert. On anything. And neither are you.

So, as my friend Floira likes to tell me, "Let Go and Let God". We can't control any of this, but we can control ourselves. Hopefully.

The point of my post is a friendly reminder to think before you post. It's 2018 and we get most of our info from social media. And there's nothing more frustrating than receiving incorrect info. Or hearing rumors that have absolutely no truth behind them.

And I'm not talking about kids here. I'm talking about grown ass adults using social media to spread flat out lies. Please stop.

I am a school counselor and I work closely with seventh graders. It's my life's passion to get it through their thick skulls to always think before they post. But honestly, I think adults need to hear this more than kids.

Myself included. I have posted things I am not proud of. I have made comments that I now find cringe-worthy. I have shared things I regret sharing. Guilty. As. Charged.

But social media has been around long enough and we should all know better by now. Let me share with you what I share with students and my own kids.

If it's not, don't freaking post it! There's just no point. 

Last night there was a post going around that had absolutely no truth behind it. And it spread like wildfire. It was about a policeman and his wife being attacked just for being a policeman. Many people's worst fear right now in this community. Myself included. 

I was so upset when I saw this post. I shard it with friends. Because I read it on the internet. So it had to be true.

It turned out to be a total fabrication. Probably written by someone living in their mother's basement looking to get a rise out of people. And it worked. High five.

Finally there was a post from an extremely credible source stating the events never took place. I felt betrayed. But by who? Someone on the old Google machine that I do not know? Duh.

This is such a crazy time in this city. We don't not know what is about to happen. We do not know if everything we hear and are reading is true. So I will share with you the poetic words of my dear friend Kitz, "Never trust a story that starts out, my friend at work told me....".

Solid advice.

Things are stressful enough right now. I'm on edge. I have two brothers who are policeman. And countless cousins and friends to count. Because most of my friends are related.

I'm terrified at what might happen when the Van Dyke verdict is released. I'm so afraid a police officer will be hurt. Or even worse.

I'm afraid innocent people will be hurt. Or even worse.

I have had to have conversations with my young kids that I never thought I'd ever have to have. My daughter's and I did a few laps around the park last night. The heavy police presence was evident. I had to answer a lot of questions. Questions I did not have the answers to.

In the end I just told them to pray. Pray that people don't completely lose their sh!t. And pray that their uncles come home safe each night.

There are so many police families out there. All hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. Like we've done a many times before.

To all the police officers out there working more than twelve hour shifts at a time...
To all of the police officers getting their days off canceled when they should be spending that time with family and friends...
To all of the police officers putting their lives on the line every time they walk out the door...

We are praying for you to come home safe to your families. We support you. And we thank you.