Secret Agent Man

My daughter married a Special Federal Agent with the State Department. They had a beautiful and lavish wedding attended by many friends and family. He was in the Diplomatic Security Service and he kept lots of Secrets.
When she married him he was assigned to Secretary of State Colin Powell. She didn't always know where he was going or what he was doing. She understood that was part of the deal. There would be Secrets. He traveled around on Air Force One when Secretary Powell was with the President. He also went to middle eastern countries, she didn't know exactly which ones or for how long. He carried a gun, wore cool sunglasses and had a kevlar vest he left in the trunk of the car most of the time. It was dangerous and she worried about that.
They lived in Fairfax,Virginia in close proximity to D.C. She learned to cook perfect dinners and, after much labor, had the perfect home and garden. It seemed like the perfect life. She had Teas at The White House and Presidential Balls to attend. It was interesting, exciting and life was never ever dull.
My daughter had been pumping gas near the Pentagon the day of 9/11. I worried about her safety as soon as I heard the horrible news. I couldn't get through to her that day, all day. I was relieved that evening when she called. She said it was traumatic living and working in D.C. during the days and weeks after the attack. There were tanks and armed military all over the city. She felt like she was living in a police state and yet there was a comfort with their presence on every corner.
We knew her phone was being monitored/tapped especially after 9/11. Her husband was in such close proximity to the The President and Secretary Powell. We mostly talked about clothes, purses and shoes, hair and makeup. There was the occasional "Mom!" when I would say a word or ask a question without realizing it was inappropriate for the wife of a Special Federal Agent.
One Christmas, I helped her with one of her parties and met many of the Agents. They were a different breed. Trained killers actually, if you think about it. I was looking forward to meeting the six foot "gun toting" Barbie, but she had been assigned elsewhere that evening. Although cordial, the Agents were pretty much a closed group without many of the social skills we regular people have. Their minds were on other things.
After that Christmas, her husband was assigned a foreign post with a planned move to Spain. He was to be in charge of security for the US Embassy in Madrid. My daughter attended foreign language classes, special driving classes and classes on intelligence, spies and terrorism. Once in Spain, she attended dinners with the ambassador and balls at other embassies. It seemed like the perfect life.
Their first Christmas in Madrid, he gave her a plane ticket to fly home. She had been homesick and thought it was a sweet and thoughtful gesture. She had a diplomatic passport and traveling back and forth across the Atlantic was easy for her and her pet cat Isabel even in the months after 9/11.
Once home, he encouraged her to stay in the U.S. and not long after, he wanted a divorce. What went wrong? She had tried so hard to be the perfect wife. She didn't understand what had happened. What else could she do? She had already given up her life in the states, her job, family and friends to go with him. She loved him and he was her husband. What happened? She was heartsick. She had her head under the covers for what seemed like six months.
It was after the divorce my daughter learned the truth. He had been having an affair for a long time. It began after he had given her an engagement ring. Why? The "other woman" she learned, was married. We speculated it was a good career move for him to have a wife, so he went ahead and married my daughter. They must have decided to each get divorces in order to be together. My daughter was told by another agents' wife he married the "other woman" only a week after their divorce was final. She was devastated, then angry. It took her a long time to recover. Over time, she began to understand how the marriage was doomed from the start. He was a well oiled machine and expertly trained at what he did, keeping Secrets.