For those who follow Stacy Eaton on Facebook, many of you know what I have been dealing with the last 10 months. It?s been a huge undertaking to recover from the slip and fall I had in my kitchen on May 31st. Sustaining another concussion caused a lot of problems that I am still learning to deal with. A lot of people have sustained concussions and recover quickly, but when your concussion steps into the mild traumatic brain injury department, well it takes longer than a mere bump on the head would to get back to your old self.
For a while, I have wondered if I would return to my former self, the one who managed to do four things at once and never stopped until I crashed in bed each night, and while the doctors tell me I will eventually reach about 90% of who I was before, I still have a way to go.
So when I started back to work in February, I had high hopes that I would be able to jump right back into work, and that my brain would magically finish healing and I would be my old self again, but that?s not what happened. The stress of going back, and the intense stimulation of being in a police station has caused some setbacks and I realized that while I loved investigating and working law enforcement, my time to do that job had come to pass.
So on March 25th, I’m hanging up my handcuffs and turning in my badge. It was a gut wrenching decision that my husband and I talked over for a while, but in the end we both knew it was the right one. I?m thankful that I have such an amazing husband who supports me and wants only what?s best for me and our family, along with an extended family that feels the same.
Back when I was in the academy, I told my mother that my goal was to become a detective, and thirteen years later, I officially achieved that title. Been there, done that, and now, it?s on to something else.
In my almost 16 years of law enforcement I have arrested hundreds of people for DUI, Drugs,? Theft, Burglary, Identity Theft, Criminal Mischief, Arson, Assaults of all levels and Abusers, both adult and child, and last but not least, a murderer. I’m proud of my accomplishments.
I have held the hands of the sick, mourned the loss of fellow officers, laughed at the audacity of criminals, and held the family members after they have lost someone. I?ve been to countless accidents, been thrown up on, spit at, punched, kicked, screamed at and almost peed on. I?ve had to be hard, and sometimes soft. I?ve had to parent kids that were not mine, and scold adults that acted like kids. I?ve written hundreds of citations, countless search warrants, and thousands of reports, and driven more miles on patrol than some people do in a life time.
And I don?t regret one minute of my years of service.
It has been a true honor to protect and serve the residents in the township I worked. Many of whom have become my friends over the years and I will miss each and every one of them.
So what’s next? Since October 2010, I have been writing part time. In March of 2011, I released my first book and now I have 14 published titles with 21 plot lines waiting to be written. So I?m ?retiring? from law enforcement I will spend the next few months continuing to heal and then be a full time writer, mom and wife. ?It?s the perfect fit for me.
So for all of you law enforcement officers out there that are tired of citizens telling you that they pay your salary, well, now you pay my salary, so go buy one of my books!
In all seriousness, my prayers go out to every single one of you when you strap on that vest, hook on your duty belt and step into a patrol car. The job is not what it was fifteen years ago, and you all know that. I might not be directly on that line with you anymore, but in my heart, I will always be part of the thin blue line. 
And not only the police officers, but the EMT’s, firefighters, medics, prison guards, parole officers, attorney’s and everyone else that works in these fields. I pray for your safety, both physically and mentally. We all have to deal with some horror in our jobs, and I hope you can all set it aside when you go home. Going home at the end of your shift, is the most important thing, remember that.
Before I go, I want to thank each and every one of you who have touched my life in some way. Whether it was to assist me, teach me, give me a hard time, or thank me, I appreciate all that you did.
Be safe my brothers and sisters – I’ll be seeing you all on the pages of my books.
Yours Truly
Stacy Samantha