FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Federal Way Police Officer Patrick Maher was killed in the line of duty 6 years ago. For the first time, his stepson shares his feelings about that moment, and his emotional recovery. And to the shock of his mother, he decided to do it at school.
Nicholas says it was a essay assignment for his 6th grade English teacher.
"He said we had to pick our best important moment and write an essay on it. And there was no competition what that one is," he said.
The 11-year old decided to write how he felt when his stepfather was shot and killed in 2003. Nicholas was just 5 years old.
"For the last 6 years I have been a mope who had no faith in himself. But I now know you can still change your life," he writes.
His mother didn't know about the essay, until he read it aloud at school Thursday, and another parent called to share what an impact it had on the class.
"Knowing he's able to talk about it with his friends and he's able to even give just a glimmer of hope to the other families who are hurting, to me I thought it was a pretty incredible thing for an 11-year old to do," said Renee Maher.
Maher believes her son gained courage from seeing the children of one of the fallen Lakewood officers speak at the funeral last week.
"I was pretty amazed he gave a speech," said Nicholas. Now he wants to return the favor, and give them faith that life gets better.
Here is his essay:
This I Believe
By Nicholas
We have recently had four police officers be murdered (five if you count Tim Brenton) even though my step father was not one of those four officers, he was an officer who was killed in the line of duty. He was Patrick Maher the officer who was killed six years ago on August 2, 2003.
Even though my step father was killed six years ago, I still remember when it was me who had a stepfather die. I was a depressed 5 year old that had just moved to Washington. I went to a school where no one knew what to do with me because they thought I had no reason to be a mope and no one wanted to be my friend. I went to that school all the way up to first grade. My teacher would yell at me for folding my homework assignment (a natural habit of mine) and things like that. To make a long story short, my mom pulled me out of that school in a hurry and put me in the school I go to now (which was obviously the right school for me since I still go there now).
Ever since the five police officers were killed, my mother has been on local news channels a lot lately to talk about what those five families are going through. She also talks about this being the same thing that she and I went through years ago and the pain they feel with their loss. The news people (and police officers when she sees them) all ask mom the same question, "So... how is Nick doing?" Since I'm never there with my mom when it happens, I don't know what she says to those people but I'm guessing it goes something like this:
News people: How is Nick doing?
Mom: Nick is fine thanks for asking.
I still see a few police officers around town every now and then. Even though I am now 11, some of them still recognize me which I thought was surprising because some of them haven't seen me since I was five, six or seven years old. I guess I don't look that different from when I was younger.
Ever since my mom got her new job as executive director of COMPAS (Council of Metropolitan Police and Sheriffs), I have been seeing police officers a lot more often lately and I am regularly being asked how I am doing by the officers I see. But I know why they are doing it and I am glad they do.
For the last 6 years I have been a mope that had no faith in myself. Now I know that you can change your life. In fact, I have become confident in myself that I have joined the boy scouts. I have become a positive kid again and I inspire my mom by being the best boy scout I can be and my mom inspires me by keeping herself healthy. What this whole thing has taught me is that even after the loss of a loved one, you can still make good times happen.
This I believe.
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