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By Root 327 0

phone call that he was cut from the Eagles, the cameras were right there. The show producers came in and were like, “We have to film.” That’s when I plain old said, “Get the fuck out.” I’ve rarely told the cameras to leave, but times like this call for a family to hunker down and figure things out, without a camera crew hovering over them. It was sad because I wanted Hank to be okay and I certainly didn’t want to watch him get fired on national TV. So when the Vikings called to hire him (I’m glad the cameras were there to catch that one though!), I told Hank he better decide and accept fast or I was going to grab the phone and make the deal. He was actually having trouble deciding whether to go or not. Sometimes a wife needs to give her husband a good kick in the ass!

Hank didn’t want to leave us all alone, but going to Minnesota was a guaranteed job for the remainder of the season. We had only a couple of hours to make up our minds because Minnesota was going to go with someone else if Hank said no. Hank didn’t want to leave me and the baby behind, but his agent was pressuring him to make a decision. I took the phone and I just said, “Yes, he is going to play with the Vikings.” I told Hank he better pack his bags and get there. I ordered him to go. It was hard for him—no man wants to voluntarily leave his family—but as a father and a husband he needed to go where the work was. On the show it played out as if it wasn’t a huge deal, but it was a big decision for our family. I started to question why the hell I moved to Philadelphia in the first place and yelled at Hank, telling him it was all his fault and calling him selfish. Things started to unravel really fast. We were never in danger of divorcing, but it got pretty bad.

Hank left and I was stuck there in Philly alone. I knew he had to go, and while I wouldn’t equate it with a soldier heading off to war, I did feel a little bit like a military wife left all by myself to take care of things until Daddy comes home. That night I went to sleep alone and the next morning I woke up alone with the baby. It was a shocker and my reality for the next several months. What else could I do? Hank’s job is to play football and Minnesota wanted him, so that’s where he had to go. From the get-go, I was supportive. But as time wore on, things took a nasty turn for the worse. As wives we are programmed with “support your husband, support your husband, support your husband,” but when I actually got into that situation it was the last thing on my mind.

I began to feel like a single mom as I was left to look after the baby on my own in a strange city for the rest of the season. It wasn’t Hank’s fault, but after a while it took its toll. Doing morning duty every day at seven A.M. and handling every feeding, nap, diaper change, tantrum, snack, and bottle, along with all of the washing and cleaning, became impossible on my own. I don’t know how all those moms out there manage it. Doing it for one day plain old sucks, but you’d do anything for your baby. Doing it two days in a row starts to wear on you. By day three (call it three days or seventy-two hours or almost half a week—whatever sounds worse) I was ready to jump off a bridge. I needed my husband there to help out and give me at least one morning off, and I didn’t have it.

That first morning alone it really hit me. Even though I knew I was going to have to dig deep and just deal with looking after the baby on my own (and not give Hank any shit), I still was like, “What the hell just happened?” It was so depressing. I had no network in Philadelphia, few friends, no family, no support. City of Brotherly Love? More like City of Husbandless Kendra. I didn’t know anyone in or anything about this town I was living in. I was all alone in this big dark city when I could have been back home in L.A. with more of a support system and an easier life.

I blamed Hank for all of our troubles, but in reality, it was the show that had wanted me to go to Philly. Hank had been telling me to stay in L.A., but the producers were really persuasive and in