Gabriel's Letter to a Corrections Officer

This week is Corrections Officer Appreciation Week. In honor of it, the Texas Baptist Men's Convention brought us a big lunch today. They gave away free Bibles to anyone who wanted one (I already have two, so I didn't take one), and, they gave out cards to each of us from children who wrote to us to show their support.

Me, I got this one. And, it really touched my heart. I don't know who Gabriel is, so I thought I would respond to him here:

Dear Gabriel,

On behalf of all of us in the Corrections Department here at Telford Prison, I work with some real heroes in my field, and they deserve all the praise they can get. I want to say thank you for your love and support. Your letter touched me. I don't know what happened to your dog, but I am going to assume that maybe he is here, with us at Telford now.

If that is the case, then that makes you, and Duke, heroes, too!

You see, we train the dogs that work for us to do amazing things; like, use their nose to sniff out stuff that the bad guys aren't supposed to have. If the bad guys had things they aren't supposed to have, it would not be very safe for your neighborhood. But, that isn't all they do.

Sometimes the dogs that live here are used to help find little girls and boys who are lost in the woods. Why, not too long ago, I heard of a dog who helped find a 3-year-old little girl who had wondered away from her mommy and was missing for 3 days. Her momma sure did thank that dog when he brought her home!

Heroes always think about making other people safer. That is why you are a hero, because you let us use Duke, even though you miss him. And, Duke is a hero because he has special abilities that might one day save your life. Without Duke, a lot of people would not sleep well at night because they would worry about their safety.

Maybe one day, when you grow up, you can come help train the dogs at Telford Prison. I'm sure that would really make you feel better about where Duke is now. I pray that one day you will get to see him again.

And, I praise God for heroes like you who love and support us in our work!

Thank you,

A Telford Corrections Officer.