The Man Who Holds Me Up

To close out the year I want to talk about my husband and how amazingly supportive this man is. Prior J there had been no serious relationships, there had never been an individual who actually stepped up to the plate and became the kind of man I needed. Without his support I would have never went back to school and certainly never would have graduated. When you have a good support system you can do anything!


Mi amor, aka J

I never, ever, EVER had any desire whatsoever to go back to school. In my early 20s I graduated from a local community college with a Certificate of Completion in Travel & Tourism, plus a short term Certificate in Hospitality. I went this route because a) I didn't have to take College Algebra, and b) It required less time than a Bachelor's degree. I was looking for a quick and easy way out of college and out of my city. I wanted to travel! I had always wanted to be a teacher when I was younger but upon finally going to college for it I backed out. I wasn't ready for the responsibility of having a REAL job. I didn't want to deal with the pressure of having to teach children everything they need to know for a year. And quite honestly, I wanted to work in an industry where things were changing and each day would bring a new adventure. Who wants to be stuck in a job where you do the same thing every day?

So this certificate lead me down the road I wanted at the time. I moved from Texas to Orlando to work for Disney World. When I came back I moved to New Mexico for a travel agency job. I loved starting new lives, meeting new people. Adventure remember! Truth be told I grew homesick with both adventures eventually and moved back home. I took temp jobs because I didn't know what I wanted to do when I moved back. I did not want to go back to school, though I felt the pressure all the time from my family, and I eventually got a job as a teacher's assistant. Look at me, I was back in the education field without meaning to.

Cue Spring 2007 when I met my future husband. That's when everything changed. When you're young and you don't have any children or any serious boyfriend you tend to not take life too serious. I never had any real obligations. I just worked and paid my bills and went out with my girlfriends and that was enough for me. I didn't think too much about the future. When I met J things went fast. We were so in love and by the time we had been together for 8 months we were engaged!

Being with J made me realize what I wanted in life. I always knew eventually I would have the husband and the kids and the house but since I had been single for so long I hadn't actually though about planning for some of that. Now that we were together and getting married, how was I going to make any of it happen without a college degree and a good paying job? Oh how I regretted not getting a bachelor's degree in my early 20s. Mistakes, mistakes all around. Now I had to fix it, which is why I went back to college when I was 27.

It was hard. It was frustrating. I continued to work my regular job and took night and online classes at the local community college. Eventually I transferred to a University which was 20 minutes outside of my city. Sometimes I would have classes there and have to drive back in town to have classes here. I wanted to quit so many times. I threw fits and cried and gave up but J always talked me down. He is the sensible one in the relationship. When i'm upset, he can get me to calm down and focus and eventually see the light at the end of the tunnel. The end goal is graduation and getting a job. He had to help keep me focused on that goal many times. He was so patient and calm and understanding when, honestly, a lot of the time I acted like a baby.

Without this man I never would have made it here or become the woman I am today.


- A. Roo