Feature Article: My Husband Left Me for Another Woman

It was Wednesday night at 11:00PM.  My husband was in bed when he suddenly got up and began getting dressed.  I asked him where he was going and he calmly told me he was going to tend to another woman and her child.  I asked another question or two as he finished getting dressed.  Then, without too many more words, he drove away from our home.  That is the night my husband left me for another woman. 

So, I may have left out a few details to grab your attention.  My husband did provide me the name of the woman he was going to help.  He also asked if we had any whole milk.  You see, the woman he left to help that night is the widow of a local law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty less than a year ago.  She needed milk for her baby, but it was really late.  She put a request on Facebook that my husband happened to see and then responded.

Some may think nothing of what he did, and some may think I am crazy for letting my husband go meet the needs of another woman at 11pm.  But for me, it was my husband helping out a mom who needed something for her child, a fellow police wife, a woman connected to us by the Thin Blue Line.  There are few who understand what the life of a law enforcement family is like except, of course, other law enforcement families.

There truly is a connection between LE families, and when one of your immediate blue family members are in need, you respond.  We support one another and are there for each other even if that person is a complete stranger.  Quite honestly, the woman my husband left me for that night is a stranger to me, but as a LEOW, I know full well that the knock that came on her door could just as easily have been on mine.  Every police wife’s worst fear is realized with that knock. 

So, we buy blue ribbon and make blue bows to tie around trees on funeral procession routes.  We show up to funerals and K9 drive-by’s with our LEOs.  We create Facebook groups and GroupMe threads where we can share our thoughts and feelings with others who understand our lives.  We cry with those who have lost.  We make treats and food to take to the department so our LEOs know we love them.  We send messages checking up on one another.  We get together during particularly challenging shifts.  Without question, we purchase t-shirts, bracelets, and stickers and contribute to GoFundMe accounts in order to support blue family we have never met.  We are proud of those who bring honor to the Thin Blue Line.  We work to create relationships.  We even deliver milk late at night all because we need one another.

If you have not been a part of this community, you would never know it, but blue family is constantly showing up.  We show up in the good and the bad.  Not for praise or accolades, not for reciprocation or recognition, but because it is what this family does.  We have one another’s six.

Written By: Mrs. Swanny