Spouse's Nite Out

A couple of spouse's from the PD and the local Sheriff's Office get together about once a month for dinner. I love this night. We try to leave the kids at home - although our husbands are all on different shifts so some of us can and some of us can't. Other than the fact we subconsciously acknowledge that we are all connected through the law enforcement family, our husband's jobs are never even brought up.

Meanwhile, our husbands are at home dying with curiosity, thinking we are gossiping about them. After we get home, almost every one of them asks, "What did ya'll talk about?" Well, fellas, most of our conversation tonight consisted of the wonderful Black Friday deals we got, one woman's diabetes struggles, and how absolutely horrible the service was.

While most of us are still happily married, some are not. Whether we all remain "spouses" for the long term is neither here, nor there. In what initially began years before as a group of spouses, developed into a core group of friends that simply have one small thing in common!

My Family Is Supported by Crime

At the college I went to, one of the Criminal Justice professor's wives used to invite all the girlfriends and fiancee's of the senior CJ majors over to her home for a "heart-to-heart" about life married to a police officer. I somehow missed that meeting. But as well meaning as it was, I'm not sure a talk would have adequately prepared me for this crazy life...and if anyone should be prepared, it should be me. My father was a police officer for 30 years! But yet, I had no idea -

1. I'd be a single parent when he's on midnight;
2. I can't remember the last time we went to dinner with friends that weren't police officers;
3. A small part of me gets panicky when he's late and hasn't called;
4. Christmas is rarely celebrated on Dec. 25; and lastly,
5. I'm even MORE scared of getting pulled over than the average citizen.

Maybe God knew better. Maybe He knew I'd kill my husband if he was home every evening; or that I'd go bankrupt if I won the lottery. But I sure wouldn't mind trying it to know for sure!