Kimberly Slavens saw the flashing blue lights in her rearview mirror as she neared her Ohio apartment. She knew she was in trouble: She was returning from a bar after drinking about a half-dozen vodka tonics.
Slavens was charged with operating a vehicle impaired. She cried for the next few days, worried she would go to jail, get fired from her job and lose custody of her teenage son.
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“I just felt like I was just completely out of options,” Slavens said. “I didn’t know where to go; I didn’t know where to turn.”
A year later, however, the Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper who arrested Slavens received a thank-you card. It was from Slavens, who wrote that her gratitude for the trooper was “unmeasurable.”
“On Dec 5th, 2015 – you pulled me over for speeding and subsequently arrested me for DUI, blowing a 0.10,” Slavens wrote. “This was my 2nd DUI in 14 months & that night was a wake up call that I needed. Shortly after my arrest, I signed myself into Rehab, admitted to myself & many others that I was an alcoholic & needed help. Today, I celebrate one year of sobriety.”
The card began a tradition of Slavens writing a thank-you note to the trooper, Brett Lee, every Dec. 5. Cincinnati news station WCPO first reported the story.
Slavens celebrated the 10th anniversary of her arrest Friday by telling Lee that she wouldn’t have enjoyed her son’s wedding or bought her first house this year without him. Slavens said she might’ve kept drinking and driving until she hurt herself or another driver.
“I can never express to him how much that one interaction between the two of us just changed the entire trajectory of my life,” Slavens, 49, told The Washington Post.
On Dec. 4, 2015, Slavens finished her eight-hour shift as a mortgage underwriter around 5 p.m. and drove to a bar – a nightly routine she said she kept for a few years to distract herself from her depression. She held onto the lime from each vodka tonic in her glass and stopped drinking for the night when the glass was full of limes.
After a few hours of boozing, Slavens slept on a couch in the bar until the early morning, when she felt sober enough to drive home.
Around 1:20 a.m., Slavens was driving her gray Acura TSX home when Lee pulled her over for speeding and failing to use a turn signal. Lee said that from outside the driver’s window, he could tell there was a larger issue: The car reeked of alcohol.
Slavens failed her sobriety test – she took nine steps instead of the directed 10. Lee put her into the back seat of his patrol car and drove Slavens to his post in Lebanon, Ohio. There, a Breathalyzer showed Slavens’s blood alcohol content was over Ohio’s legal driving limit of 0.08.
Her mother, Vera Irvin, picked her up from the police station. On the ride home, Slavens said she admitted for the first time that she had a drinking problem. When Slavens returned to her apartment, she dumped out her blue bottles of vodka. She told her son, Isaac, she would take some time off work to get help.
Slavens enrolled in a rehab facility in West Chester, Ohio. There, she connected with other alcoholics and adhered to a daily motto: “My only job today is to go to bed sober.”
Slavens pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle impaired, according to court records, and her driver’s license was suspended for a year. She resented Lee, thinking he was to blame for her increased car insurance rates.
After about six months of rehab, Slavens continued attending therapy and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. By the first anniversary of her arrest, Slavens said, she felt present at her son’s events instead of thinking about her next drink. Her resentment toward Lee turned into gratitude.
Slavens wrote Lee a card that said “Thank you” and “Thanks” on the front. Slavens dropped the card off for Lee, who was shocked. He said nobody had ever thanked him for arresting them.
“It makes me feel good knowing I’m doing my job, and people appreciate us,” said Lee, 39. “It’s always good to hear a thank you, especially in [a] tough situation.”
On Dec. 5, 2017, Slavens handed a second thank-you card to Lee at his office. They’ve met there every year since, even when Lee has been off work.
Lee stores Slavens’s cards in his gray work binder along with certifications, training documents and case reports. He said he’s happy every time he flips past one.
The pair also speaks occasionally other times of the year. On July 4, 2019, Slavens said she struggled to watch her friends drink for the holiday. She visited Lee at the station in hopes he could offer words of encouragement. He wasn’t there, but they connected on FaceTime.
The years haven’t come without struggles for Slavens. She said she craves alcohol when she’s stressed, dreams that she’s drinking and feels ashamed when she thinks back to her arrest. But writing to Lee each year has motivated her, she said.
“I never want to be in a place in my life that I can’t show up on December 5 and tell him that I’m still sober,” Slavens said.
When Slavens bought a house in Morrow, Ohio, in June, she texted Lee, who’s now a sergeant. If not for him, she said, she would’ve spent most of her money on drinks instead of saving it.
“Because of sobriety, I’m able to buy!” she wrote. “You have no idea how much you turned my life around! I’ll never be able to express my gratitude for you! Be expecting an open house invite soon!”
Last week, the Ohio State Highway Patrol awarded Slavens a medallion and a certificate that said Slaven’s “annual messages of gratitude, and willingness to share her story reflect hope, resilience, and the impact of responsible choices.”
Lee drove Slavens in his cruiser to that celebration in Columbus, Ohio. This time, Slavens rode in the passenger seat.
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