Page 33 - January 2020 FOP Magazine

Something so much larger
Just when the operation seems like it can’t become anymore gut-wrenching, it stops to visit Alejandro Valadez Jr. Alex Jr. was born three months after his father was shot by one of the three men he stopped to question following a shots-fired call.
After the visit, Alex and his mom Christina Rodriguez, an Area South detective, will take one of the poinsettia plants they re- ceive during the visit to the cemetery and place it at Alejandro’s grave. For now, however, Alex Jr. wows with the news that he has just made the honor roll. He celebrates by getting up and danc- ing with Frosty as Arturo sings “Feliz Navidad.”
“Just like his dad, from his attitude to his cleverness,” Christi- na admires. “The way this still goes above and beyond for each and every family member is overwhelming.”
The final stop has been the final stop every year. Shelly Perez, who has become chair of the Gold Star families, and her chil- dren, Katarina, Ben and Becky, welcome the operation in for a much-needed exhale and remembrance of her husband, Ben, who was lost in 2002.
Katarina tells of her plans to pursue a master’s at DePaul. Ben reports he has just made straight As at the University of Miami, where he plays club baseball. And Becky informs that her bas- ketball season at Kennedy High School is in full swing. Shelly stands by, smiling over this being what it’s all about.
“Selflessness. Generosity. Big hearts coming through for fam- ilies who are missing a dad,” Shelly says, not just about Opera- tion Santa but the entirety of the CPMF. “I think it means more to the kids to know that their dad was part of something so much larger than himself. They understand what it means to be a blue family.”
But the operation can’t end without some additional recogni- tion. Katarina Perez has become one of its shining lights, a true
Ava (left) and Alex Wazny open gifts as mom Annie watches.
perpetuator of her father, Shelly reveals, because she never does anything half-assed. At every stop the past two days, Katarina has offered a gift to the family, something she has hand-crafted. She has done this for the past several years, and she conveys the pay-it-forward that Operation Santa now inspires.
Katarina is mentoring Grace Bauer. She has become a spokes- person for the CPMF, after interning there one summer. She wants to be there to help other families pick up the pieces like the foundation has done for hers.
“Who knows where we’d be if we didn’t have them in our lives,” Katarina celebrates. “You can’t calculate it. Everything they have done for us.”
It all ends with Arturo singing “Joy to the World.” And how ap- propriate. It’s been nothing but joy the past two days.
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