Today, a Victory

A Madison County jury rendered a verdict today in a criminal trial that has become close to my heart. Benito Albarran, a Mexican immigrant, was found guilty of capital murder in the 2005 shooting of Daniel Golden, a City of Huntsville police officer.

When people find out my husband is a police officer, the most common question I hear is "Do you worry about him when he's working?" The true answer is no, most of the time I don't. Jeremy loves his job, and he is so good at it. How can I not want him to do something that makes him so happy and gives him such an opportunity to serve our community? Now, of course, that's not to say that I don't occasionally worry when I hear stories of the fights he's been in or the knife he found in someone's pocket...but that's why he doesn't always tell me the worst of the stories (I'm pretty sure he thinks I don't know this, but I'm okay with it). And the fact that I don't worry doesn't mean that I don't pray every single day that God will keep my sweet husband out of harm's way. I always tell Jeremy I'm sure that he was meant to be an officer and I was meant to be an officer's wife. I can't explain why I have such an inner peace about his job, when I know he's literally out looking for trouble every day, in a sense. I wasn't sure how I would take it when he started, but from the beginning I have just felt that it is all a part of God's bigger plan and I have no reason to question that plan. Jeremy always says his main goal is to make sure he comes home at the end of the day, and I know he does everything in his power to make sure that happens. The other reason I am sure I was meant for this lifestyle is that I don't mind being home alone while he works nights. I actually enjoy some of the evenings I get to spend in a quiet house, just as Jeremy values the mornings he gets to sleep in alone....although sometimes I do wonder what it would be like to go to bed with my husband every night! That's the other question I am asked often: "Don't you get scared staying at home by yourself at night?" That question I can answer with a resounding "no"!

Despite my convictions that Jeremy is living the life and serving in the career God has laid out for him, I do experience a wave of fear when I hear of an officer's death. Daniel was killed before Jeremy transferred to this job, but when Eric Freeman was killed a few months ago, the situation hit me a little more personally. I will be following the trial of his killer closely as well. For now, I am elated at this small victory against those who think they can take a life and get away with it just because their own lives have been hard. Benito Albarran took the life of a wonderful officer, husband, and father when he murdered Officer Daniel Golden. I experienced his kindness firsthand when Officer Golden worked a traffic accident I had in December 2004. He was extremely gentle with me when I was upset, and I have never forgotten it. For his deed, Mr. Albarran's life will now be taken from him, one way or another.