Shelly-Ann Thompson, Staff Reporter

The 10 months that have passed since the brutal slaying of Maxine's (not her real name) husband have not cushioned her pain.

Maxine's husband was a police corporal who was murdered last February outside his house in Kingston while his family was inside.

Maxine said she has been affected every day by the memory of losing her husband to men who just wanted to take out another cop.

"The days don't change anything," she said.

Children affected as well

Her husband's death has affected not only her, but also their two children.

Their son, the older child, has since suffered academically.

He will not be able to sit his Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams next term and, therefore, will have to resit his final year of high school.

"His death has affected all of us," said Maxine.

On a brighter note, their daughter passed her Grade Six Achievement Test for Campion College last March, after sitting the exam a month following her father's death.

"It is not easy. It has been really hard," said Maxine.

As the Christmas season draws closer, Maxine said it becomes unbearable.

Every Christmas, her husband, who, she said, was a loving and romantic man, would give her a gift. The family would also travel together, visiting relatives in rural Jamaica during the Yuletide season.

"I think about him every day, worse like Christmas coming, I don't know how I am going to cope," she said.

The couple met when Maxine was 19 years old. She is now 37. He was killed six days shy of their ninth wedding anniversary. In February they would have been married for a decade.

"I never grew up with a father or a father figure," she said.

"He was my first boyfriend so he was the only man in my life," said Maxine, unable to continue the interview.

Heather Robinson, Police Support Action Committee convener, said a majority of spouses of deceased security personnel are still mourning, even years later.

Ms. Robinson said each time a policeman is killed, the family of police officers who have died relive the experience.

Ms. Robinson also noted that, for those with children, one of their biggest challenges is how to raise a child without a father, "especially since so many fathers are dying frequently."

shelly-ann.thompson@gleanerjm.com