I realized that day how serious things had gotten.  I encouraged him to start applying for teaching jobs elsewhere, assuring him that staying in Oregon wasn’t more important to me than his happiness.  I told him that as long as I could still do the things I wanted with my life—get a graduate degree, write, and eventually have a baby—that it didn’t matter where I did it.  What mattered was that he get to do work that he loved.  I just wanted him to be happy.

He is happy now, for the most part.  He has a job that he loves, a great wife, a new house he adores, a great dog and the weather in Colorado allows for hiking almost all year round.  He has almost everything he wants, but I suspect that in enabling him to chase after his happiness, I have sacrificed something of my own.

© Salahub 2003