"So can I ask you a question," Trudy's cousin begin
"Sure… go ahead"
"Well… okay with your hubby's profession and all that I was wondering… do you ever worry"
Trudy rolled her eyes. She was asked that question at least 3 times a day.
"Do I ever worry," she repeated, "sure I do… and so does everyone in this world. People often look at me like there's something different about me but there really isn't… not really anyway. Sure I worry but that just means I'm normal."
"Okay but there's a risk-"
"There's a risk in getting up in the morning.
"There's a risk in walking outside. There's a risk in this, that or the other thing. I am no different then my friend Jamaica (who happened to be married to a brilliant scientist) or my friend Danielle (who was paired up with a garbage man) or anyone else in this world for that matter"
"Okay but what do you think when the phone rings," her cousin asked.
"What do I think when the phone rings," Trudy repeated pretending to think about it, "hm… usually I think that someone is calling"
"Well what do you think when the doorbell rings," her cousin continued
"What do I think when the doorbell rings," Trudy continued to pretend to be thinking that one over, "generally I think that someone's at the door"
"Okay," her cousin laughed, "I get it. What happens though when you guys have an argument? What happens for example if he does something that pisses you off?"
"We have argued and he has done things that piss me off and I have done things that piss him off. So has practically everyone else in this world. Jamaica has argued with her husband. Danielle has argued with her husband. No matter what, people argue with the people they love but it doesn't mean that they don't love each other."
"So you never worry that-"
"Of course I do," Trudy interrupted, "but that doesn't mean that I let the worry control my life. It doesn't mean that every time the telephone rings I'm going to jump out of my skin. Besides," she added with humor, "I have caller ID"
"But what about that time that you had the nightmare," her cousin asked
"That was four years ago," Trudy said, "and I knew it was just a dream"
About four years before this conversation happened Trudy had a nightmare that she was set up so that it appeared that she'd committed a crime and her husband had to be the one that arrested her. It was a ridiculous dream but it scared her. Adrian of course made her feel better. She would never forget what he said when she told him about the dream.
"I would turn in my badge before I would arrest you," he had told her, "even if I had thought you were guilty."
"The point is," she told her cousin, "I am NOT going to let a nightmare, or fear or the fact that I may go through or have gone through tough times control me. I control it I don't let it control me"
"Thank you," her cousin said, "you made me feel a lot better"
Trudy hugged her and said "any time"