Delaware State Trooper Holiday Visits

For three days I traveled all over the state visiting children with the Delaware State Troopers. The first day I went with the Sussex County DTF from Troop 4 to Howard T. Ennis, Del Tech Day Care, and the Stokley Center. It was amazing to see all of the children's faces light up when we came in. Now, I think Santa might have been a bigger hit than me sometimes, but the moments I had with some of the people we visited will permanently have a place in my heart. Lance isn't in the picture above because he was taking the pictures for me, but I want to send out a thank you to him as well for being my personal body guard for the day! It's pretty cool having State Troopers watching out for you.

The following day I went throughout Kent County with Troop 3. We added a Storm Trooper and Spiderman to our lovely bunch! We visited another day care, Charlton School, and Kent General Hospital. Let me tell you, these Troopers are some of the best people to spend the day with. There was never a dull moment!

My week ended with New Castle County and A. I. DuPont Children's Hospital. There were over 20 State Troopers at the hospital! I met up with Troop 6 to drive over to the hospital, and when I thought we had a decent group from Troop 6, you can imagine how amazing it was to see so many troopers from various other locations at the hospital as well. We spent all day going throughout the entire hospital, room by room, bringing gifts to the patients. We were accompanied by the Chick-fil-A cow and Rocky from the Blue Rocks, too! If you're wondering, most of us are wearing masks in the picture because, for the safety of the patients, those that did not have both flu shots had to wear a mask. We gave each child a teddy bear, gingerbread house, signed Miss DE photo cards, and goodies from Chick-fil-A and Rocky! They made out pretty good thanks to the hospital and everyone else involved.

Former Miss Delaware's and several others told me this would be one of my most touching and rewarding appearances....and they couldn't have been more correct! From a father telling me his daughter hadn't smiled for days, and it was great to see her smiling and talking again, to a little baby that wasn't even old enough to speak sitting straight up after he was given my picture when the mom had been continuously trying to get him to sit up all morning, I have been truly blessed. It is appearances like these that make my year and my life as Miss Delaware so special.