Dear Rina,
 
I read your father’s obituary in the Lansing State Journal and want you to know I have been thinking of you. I hope you are doing as well as can be expected after such a major loss.
 
I learned from the obituary that we have something in common: we are both daughters of police officers. My father was a Detroit police officer, as was my grandfather and my uncle. One of my cousins was also a cop. It’s special being a part of a police family. For me, it meant, knowing how to charm an officer and not getting ticketed for all my infractions. I also get really angry and verbal and demand the respect I’m due when a police officer fails to show me that respect. During the 70s when the cops nationwide were searching for Angela Davis and stopped any light skinned woman with an Afro, this one officer pulled a shotgun on me and my friends. I protested at the top of my lungs, while my friends were trying to get me to shut up. This kind of behavior over the years made my friends and husband very nervous. I’m sure my father heard about my street actions, but he never told me to stop.
 
I’m sure you have many stories of being the daughter of a cop. Let them comfort you.
 

Dedria H.
Lansing, MI