I am the one who gave up on his dreams and am happy I did. When I first met my bride-to-be, I was working on my Master's in history, and I planned to continue to get a Ph.D. When she asked me how long the program would take, and I told her it would be about eight years, she said "If you think I'm going to wait eight years for you, you're crazy."
At the time, I was already 31 years old and had just gotten back from working overseas for three years, where I had the time of my life. I loved my job and I had the opportunity after work to study sixteenth century history right in the neighborhood in which I lived. My father's words came to mind. He said, "People your age waste so much time trying to figure out what you really want to do with your lives. I did whatever work I could to put food on the table, so I didn't worry about finding the perfect job."
While working on my Master's, I taught part-time and found history teaching jobs scarce in my local community college districts. If I wanted to marry this woman and start a family (and I truly did), I would have to give up on my dreams of getting my doctorate and becoming a history professor. I did, and we are all better off for it.
For the past 21 years, I've been selling cars in order to provide for my family. My wife has stayed home, and homeschooled our two daughters. I couldn't be more proud of her or happier with our family. My wife says I can go back to school when I retire. While the title "Professor" would be nice, "honey" and "Daddy" are the titles I enjoy most!
Patrick
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