Abbi Gleaves

I listened to your advice, but decided to go my own way. Now as I sit here thinking about everything this entails, as excited as I am, it's starting to scare me. Not just a little bit though. It scares me so much I don't want to get out of bed. I don't want to move. Your heart use to be in my hands. I would protect it and make you feel better when you were hurt. But, now your life is my hands and I never knew how hard that was.

It’s starting all over again. What happens when the good ones decide that it’s not worth it and walk away?

Until your loved one leaves you every day to protect everyone else's family, don't trash talk police or soldiers to me.

I love you. You’re probably thinking “you don’t even know me” but if people can hate for no reason, I can love for no reason.

Your “hero” had to be carried off the court because of cramps. 
          My heroes were shot in the head and arms and managed to still get out of their vehicle, call for help, and administer aid to each other. 
           #bluelineheroes

Dear America, 
          For six months, you screamed and rioted for the fall of our police. You’ve called for their deaths. You’ve rejoiced at the news of their injury or death. You’ve cursed, attacked, and killed them. You have given them every reason to quit. 
          But they don’t. 
          Every day, they push past their personal feelings, their exhaustion, and their pain to gave save you. When they answer your call for help, they don’t ask for your race, your age, or your gender. They run towards the danger, no matter who you are. 
          In Dallas they gave their lives to shield those who screamed in their faces minutes before. In Los Angeles, they protected innocents from flying bullets. In your own city, town, or county, they protect you from so much. You never have to worry because they are there. 
          So what’s the deal? Why are the enemies? Yes, there are a few bad cops; but the majority would risk everything so you could live in peace. Take a minute to talk to a police officer. You’ll discover that they are some of the most amazing people you’ll ever meet. 
          So please, America, stop demonizing, stop hurting, and stop killing my family. They can only take so much until they give up on you. Once they do, there won’t be anything between you and the evil in our world. 
          Think about that.

You run to danger. 
          You’re brave in the face of death. 
          You have no dear though you know
          Each day could be your last. 
          I wish I was strong like you. 
          I wish I could be brave--
          Brave enough to let myself
           Care for you as you do me. 
          But fear is powerful. 
          It makes me think:
          What if you are
          Taken away from me? 
          I’m not brave like you.
          In the face of danger,
          I cower and run,
          Leaving you behind to fight. 
          But you don’t hold it against me. 
          Despite my fear, 
          You smile and take my hand
          And love me still. 
          You break down my walls 
          And help me see
          That I don’t have to be brave
          For you to care for me. 
          I don’t have to be 
          Brave enough
          To love you like
          You do me. 
          I am brave enough
          To love you the way
          I do--
          The way you always need me to.

You'll never know how much those few minutes meant to me. 
          You saw the tears that I tried so hard to hide. 
          When you smiled in my direction, it scattered all my fears. 
          Your calm promised safety 
          While your silence spoke louder than words. 
          Just a couple moments and you tore down my walls. 
          You read me like an open book
          And you'll never know how much it meant to me.

YOU ASK ME WHY
          
          You ask me why.
          Why I smile so big when I see you. 
          Why I wave with enthusiasm as I pass you on the street. 
          Why I care.
          Because...I know that family is important. 
          I know that you'd never break this trust I have. 
          I know that we protect each other. 
          You protect me from the monsters under my bed 
          And I protect you from the monsters in your head. 
          My way of caring may seem like too much--
          Hard to understand and strange. 
          But it's the only way I know how to show you that I care. 
          So when I smile, when I wave, 
          When I notice small details that seem so strange for me to notice, 
          It's because I care and I love you and I want you to know that 
          You will never be alone.

“People are still good, mostly” she said. 
          “Not from what I’m hearing,” he replied. 
          “Love is quieter than gunshots. But there’s more of it.”