Thoughts on what was observed in life, translated…
On that gathering of a group of us, old friends, Hua sighed, “ahhhhhh, some things, you just, can’t understand, you’re the kind that’s been studious in school, and afterwards, got a high-paying job, and end up marrying to a good man, a member of the victorious bunch.”
I’d mentioned this to my husband as I got home that day, my husband just, smiled in silence. And, we both understood, that without the hard work of the previous years, how, would we be able to, be established in this, stable and comfortable life of ours? It’s just, that with the prevalence of social networking these days, and everybody only sees the brighter side of people on FB, but failed to realize, that everybody else has to, work very hard, and people often mistake the success as easily gotten.
As early as our college days, my husband and I had already, started working our part-time jobs, to save up the money, and, we’d both, gotten a closer look at what the reality of the society is. And, other than working hard in our separate jobs, neither one of us dared let our grades slide, because people like us, without any connections in background, having a higher education degree is the only way, to get the jobs we want to have.
As we both stepped out into the real world, back then, my boyfriend then (my husband now) were, separated by the distance, and, for the sake of saving up our money, we’d not seen one another for fifteen days at a time. After we wed, for the sake of our family, my husband worked overtime every single night, and had needed to take trips often; and so, caring for our young landed on me, a career woman’s, shoulders, and I’d started, burning on both ends. And, whether it be that the kids got sick, needing to be taken to the doctors, picking them up, dropping them off to and from school, and, their homework tutoring, it’s all, in my grasps; on the one hand, we’d, saved a lot of money on the afterschool tutoring programs, secondly, it’s because I’d wanted to be there, accompanying by their side as they grow up.
And although, it’d been, a trying couple of years, I’d taken it in stride. My friends only saw how well-behaved my children were, and that they’d known what they were supposed to do, without me nagging them at all, they’d not thought about, how I’d lain the foundations for that by accompanying them since they were younger.
not my picture still…
Several years ago, my husband was shocked to discover how he’d not had enough knowledge of English, he feared, that he might, get laid off from work, he’d started, taking classes after work, and would, study until the midnight hours, he’d originally just, wanted to keep his original job steady, without knowing, that chance would have it, he’d found a better opportunity for an even more ideal job.
It seems, that on our next gathering, I should tell Hua, “Actually, I don’t really belong to the victory bunch, I’m a member of the hardworking bunch instead!”
So, this just shows, how people tend to see what is on the surfaces when it comes to someone else’s life, and failed to realize, that they got where they currently are, by working hard, instead of just being blessed, with good fortune, and that, would be a blind spot for everybody, when they look at someone else’s life!