For anyone who complains or talks smack about police officers. Please let me introduce you to what it is like to be married to one. I am already wondering, “Will he have to work on Thanksgiving this year?” “Will he have to sleep most of the day?” “ Will he be able to eat with us?” “Will his daughters get to be with their Daddy on Thanksgiving?” And what about Christmas? Is he going to have to go to work on Christmas Eve? Will he be home in the morning before Santa comes? Will he get the thrill of hearing the kids jumping into our bed saying, “Mommy, Daddy, Santa came to our house!!??” How about New Years Eve? Will I get to kiss my husband at midnight and tell him Happy New Year? NOPE! We usually do this over the phone together, which is very heartbreaking to me every single time. Sometimes, he is off for Thanksgiving and Christmas, sometimes not. Never New Years. While everyone is partying it up, he is working to get drunk drivers off the street. That is exactly why I supported his career decision. If he can save at least one person or family from being injured or killed by a drunk driver, my children and I are willing to sacrifice years apart from our husband and father so that other families may continue to enjoy theirs. Sure, he may not get all of them, but I guarantee if you are in his path and you are DWI, you are going down. I am just getting frustrated by the comments that I read that are posted by newspaper websites about police officers. Recently, there was a tragic accident involving an on-duty officer that was killed by a drunk driver who was traveling the wrong way on a major highway. Several readers pointed out that it was ridiculous that the officer’s final services were extravagant and ridiculously publicized. One police officer replied that all of the years he spent working weekends, holidays, missing weddings, reunions, kids birthdays, baptisms, etc., a big deal better be made if he were to have passed away in the line of duty. I totally agree.

My husband has worked the midnight shift for 10 years now and I never get used to being alone. It never gets easier. It just never does. Sometimes I cry when he leaves. I have to be the “married single parent”. It is extremely hard. I have to be the tough wife and be very supportive of him. But I love him so incredibly much that sometimes I am just a woman and have to be sad when I want to be sad. Sometimes when he doesn’t come home on time in the morning and he doesn’t answer his phone I think, “Is this it?” You always try not to worry about “that”, but when you have those late moments, it crosses your mind. And then finally he walks in the door and you are a little relieved to hear, sorry I had to work late, I arrested several people for drugs or DWI or whatever other foolishness ppl got into. And yes, the later he gets home, the less sleep he gets because it is not his only job. He has three others.

Police officers are hardcore. They have to be mentally focused. My husband will not turn down a side job. Any opportunity to make money and support our family is his primary goal. So, we get to spend about a half a day with him on Sunday evenings. Can you imagine how hard it is for him to “turn off the cop switch” for half a day and “turn on the Husband/Dad switch”? It took me a while to get this, but now I do. I understand it. And I finally have accepted that I have to live with it until he retires. It takes a strong woman with an extreme amount of patience to be married to a cop. That is why I never take advantage of any opportunity that I have to spend with him. You have to grab those moments, even if they are just a few for hugs, kisses, or I ♥ you’s. Yes, I get excited when he invites me to “run to Home Depot with him.” Or do yard work with him. Yes, after 15 years together, we still hold hands in the car. I still bring him breakfast in bed. I still get butterflies when he walks in the door. So, the point of me writing this is, when my asshole cop husband writes you a ticket tonight, just remember that he has a story. He has a family at home that loves him and misses him very much. And all we want is for him to come back home safe to us every morning, after every single shift is over.