7 years ago, when I was 24, 七年前,我24岁的时候 my wife was killed in a horrible car accident, 我妻子在一场可怕的车祸中去世了 leaving me in complete shock and grief 我被抛入了剧烈的震惊与悲恸之中 I became a single father to our 2 kids 变成了两个孩子的单亲爸爸 at the time they were 1 and 3 years old. 那时他们一个只有1岁,一个只有3岁 I didn't have any post high school education 我只有一份小小的高中文凭 and was working as a construction worker. 职业是建筑工人 Before my wife passed away, 在妻子去世前 we both worked full time 我们都有全职的工作 and were able to rent a small but nice house. 赚的钱还足以租下一件虽然小,却很温馨的公寓 But as a single working parent, 可是,成为唯一赚钱养家的单亲爸爸后 I could hardly make ends meet 我难以应付家里的开支 and had to move in to a tiny apartment. 一家人不得不搬到一个逼仄的小公寓里 That Christmas, when I didn't have enough money left over to get my kids the gifts they deserved, 那年的圣诞节,我拿不出足够的钱去为孩子们买他们应得的圣诞礼物,这时我才知道 I really knew I had to do something. 我知道,自己必须得做点什么才行 I started taking college classes at night 我开始读夜校研修大学学位 while working 2 jobs, 同时还做着两份工作 and after five long years, 五年漫长的时间之后 I graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering 我终于获得了机械工程专业的学士学位 and got a job making 6 figures. 还得到了 一份薪资6位数的工作 I bought a nice house with a huge yard for my kids to play in, 我买下了 一幢大房子,屋前还有一个宽阔的院子,可以让孩子们玩耍 built them a treehouse, 我还给孩子们搭了一个树屋 and have enough time off to spend plenty of time with them. 工作空余的时间也很多,可以陪伴孩子们 Last week, 上星期 I took them on a camping trip in the mountains. 我带着孩子们到山里宿营 It's not until now 直到此时 that I really let myself believe that I actually did it. 我才得以确信,我真的做到了 |