Apr 24, 20225 min read

Because I Left DV Blessing #5,919: Surprises!

DO YOU REMEMBER ME?

“Do you remember me?” he asked….

How many of you have ever had that question asked to you? Blink! When that happens, do you feel your brain pulling from all sides as it tries to connect all the dots so that it can to give you a name to go along with the face that’s looking at you?

That is what my brain was doing to me. I gasped as this man asked me that question just minutes before I was going to address the conference. For the slightest hesitation my mind wavered and then suddenly, I recognized him . . .

FlashBack

Suddenly, I saw his reflection in the glass of my car door as he was walking toward the car. I opened the door and stepped out.

“Excuse me, Miss.” he said.

“Yes, Officer?” I asked

“You know your husband is going to be busy for a few hours while they booked him into the county jail.” He said.

I thanked him for the information and fully expected him to turn and leave, but he didn’t. Instead, the officer turned again to me,

“I feel that I need to give you something.”

I looked at him. My mind was racing. What would he need to give me? He handed a card, a simple business card. Then he looked t me long and hard. He said I needed to call the number on that card to help me obtain a protective order.

He looked at me again this time even more seriously and said, “Whatever you decide to do, I needed to call that number so that if I ran with the kids, I would be able to do so with me coming after you for kidnapping.” My heart skipped—how did he know? My stomach lurched at the information that the officer have given me. . .

Flash Forward

All of that transpired as he walked towards me in the conference room. The full experience. I looked at officer Drca—who I hadn’t seen for nearly 16 years, and I asked him if I could give him a hug. We embraced each other and just lived in the moment.

My mind raced with questions! How did he know I was here? How did he make it to the conference?

Then the prompting came. Brittney!! My mind flashed back to the morning. I sat in the back and chatted with a few people asking them what their names were and what brought them to the conference.

And then as I continued to float through the room I felt a nudge to sit at a different table so I excused myself and put my things there.

I again asked the “what’s your name and what brought you here” questions and one spunky gall said, “Brittney, and I am an advocate with the North Salt Lake Police department,” she said. My ears perked up and my face smiled!

“Really?” I responded. “Can I ask you if you know officer Dcra?” I said very enthusiastically.

“Yes!” she responded. I nearly fell out of my chair.

“He,” she went on, “doesn’t work in our department anymore, but has moved to another city and works there.”

“Can you give him my book? He’s on pages 165-166!” She had a shocked look on her face. “Sure! I’d love to,” she said.

In all the excitement, I gave her a book as well. I signed everything and handed them to her. I smiled and hugged her. I asked her a few more questions and thanked her for doing such great work.

How did you get here?

All of that flashed through my head as I let go of Officer Drca and looked at each other. I swallowed hard and asked, “Did Brittney call you?” He, wiping a fear tears away said, “Yes, she called and told me you were here.” I could not believe I was looking at the same officer who saved my life all those years ago.

He is the one who gave me the card to Safe Harbor. My brain was saying, Go! Go tonight! Officer Drca take gave me that 4-hour window to put my exit plan into action . . .

“Can you stay for the presentation,” I asked him?

“Yes,” he said as he sniffed. He asked me how long I’d been sharing my story. I told him about 10 years ago it all started. He fell silent again and we just looked at each other.

I wiped my eyes and said, “Would you mind it if I called you to stand up and share this story with everyone at the conference during my presentation?”

He wiped his nose and sniffed. “I’d be honored.”

Suddenly everyone started walking into the room. I gave his arm a squeeze and started towards to front of the room encouraging and welcoming everyone into the room. And I began my presentation.

Life Full Circle

Do you see how life can come full circle? Advocates, counselors, shelters, law enforcement, etc. never really get to see the end results of all of those who they help. But on April 20th, 2022 at least one person who helped me that night, was able to see that I had gone from an arrest to homeless, to fighting for my family, to growing my family, to sharing my story as hope and more light to the world.

He got to hear firsthand what my life had been and was like today. He had a few more tears in his eyes, and suddenly during the presentation, I had to stop. The emotion was building up and was ready to spill over.

“Everyone,” I said. “I’m sorry, but I have to stop right here. Officer Drca, can you please stand up?” He stood. “Everyone,” I squeaked out.

“This is the police officer who saved my life.”

I had to gasp and catch my breath. “He was not planning on being here, and I was not expecting to see him. This was not planned and this…” my voice chocked back,

“This man is why I can talk to you today and share this story. With his simple actions of handing me the card and giving me and giving me the time frame, I knew I could implement my exit plan.”

My eyes scanned the room at all the participants. At that moment we all fell into the emotion and just let it stay with all of us.

There was not a dry eye in the room and I went back to Officer Drca, nodded, swallowed hard, and said,

“You are the supporters. Your work makes the difference. Whether you ever hear from the people you work with or not, I stand as a representative for them—that there is hope! TRUE HOPE!”

So I say to all of you out there.

There is true hope.

If you want to know more about how to help others who are stuck in abuse but you don't know where to start, Click here for your free Supporter’s IQ Quiz.