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