CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39
As a result, a fourhour bus trip to spend
a few moments at the
Wall can make time
stand still.
“Sometimes, I just
sit there and stare at
the wall, and I still can’t
believe his name is on
it,” DiNardo shares. “It
brings me through my
journey, and I find that
I’m stronger than I
dreamed I would have
ever been.”
The more that times
goes by, the more
uplifting the trip
becomes. Some of the
kids
run
around
together as if it’s a day
at the park with
friends, an affirmation
of the C.O.P.S. mission
to bring some normalcy, some sense of family that is often missing
without the loved one.
Kids of New Jersey survivor families that made
the trip includes, (front row, from left), Gracie
Preslar, Clare Parmenter and Elizabeth Trella
and (back row from left) Scottie Stevens,
Catherine Parmenter and Julia Preslar.
C.O.P.S. also give placards with each officer’s photo to all
survivor families on the bus to leave at the wall where their
officer’s name is enshrined. Most families take etchings of the
officer’s name and snap a new year of photos.
Preslar notes how her daughters Julia, 14, and Gracie, 13,
now look forward to the etching, the photos and the entire
trip. It’s an opportunity to reconcile how, after the loss of the
loved one, that you can move on and live on.
“It’s OK to cry one second and laugh the next,” DiNardo
adds. “You take your picture, etch your name, leave your flowers and then you get back on the bus, and it’s almost like a
feeling of relief.”
Before getting back on the bus this year, the New Jersey survivor families made an indelible memory with the group
photo. Take a closer look, and see young and old, parents,
mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts,
uncles, nieces and nephews and a group truly grateful. Grateful to the PBA, for sure, for making this trip possible, and
grateful to have a few moments to honor their loved ones.
The bus ride back to Jersey stopped at the Rusty Scupper
restaurant at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for a seafood lover’s
feast. The NJ State PBA included this dinner, and it proved to
be the perfect way to culminate the day.
“It gave us a chance to unwind and finally process what you
saw and why you were there,” DiNardo declares. “Most
people aren’t as tense at this point, and you realize, ‘I made
it.’” d
40
NEW JERSEY COPS
■
MAY 2016