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One woman did what you typically only see in the movies, as she finally revealed her secret second life as a spy to her family after retirement, leaving everyone stunned at the revelation.
Work life balance is something that millions of people struggle to keep up with every single day, yet few have quite as many complications as Ann E. Butler, who had to also keep her work life a secret from her family and the rest of the world.
While she might have told everyone that she was a diplomat working for the State Department, and that's why she often took her family all across the world to Paris, Cairo, and many other famous cities, the truth was actually wildly different.
Ann was actually working as a spy for the CIA, with her job to track and infiltrate foreign diplomats, governments, and terrorist groups, all while juggling a family life with five children.
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Now, following her retirement, she has finally revealed the jaw-dropping truth to her children, leaving them both stunned and amazed that their mother was able to live such an incredible life without them suspecting a thing.
When asked whether she ever suspected anything other than what she was being told about her mom's job, Ann's daughter Alexis declared in an interview with NBC TODAY: "Not in a million years, like I said, she was just my mom."
Her husband did thankfully know that she was a spy – as it'd be pretty difficult to hide that from a significant other – yet he also knew not to ask any questions, and had to deal with situations where Ann would be away for days without any idea of where she was or if she was safe.
"He never questioned where I was, who I spoke with, what we were talking about," she recalled, and that certainly takes strength from both sides.
The job also poses major challenges when it came to family life, as she not only missed her son's first birthday while out in the field, but the role required her to be always on alert and contactable, no matter what.
"Absolutely, any time, day or night," Ann explained when asked about whether she always had to answer the phone, adding that it "wasn't an option" to do anything else.
For the job itself, she often found herself in elaborate disguises that were specifically designed for her in order to be as effective as possible, with "a disguise that covered my face, or my hair. A wig that was created specifically for me, so it really fit and looked normal."
It goes to show that not everything might be as it seems, and those films where children find out their parents are spies aren't exactly too unrealistic — although in Ann's case the children would never have found out.
