The Best Decision

Eighteen Years

Eighteen years ago, a girl in my class and I were in charge of drawing a poster for a school event.

By the time we finished, it was 10 p.m. We walked back together from school to our dormitories.

A year later, I held her hand for the first time, my own hand shaking a little.

It was after midnight. We ran from school to our dormitories, holding hands, on a cold, snowy night.

A few years later, we sat under a tree on campus. I looked up at the stars, not knowing what our future would look like. In a month, I would leave for graduate school in the United States, and she would leave for graduate school in Europe.

Two years later, after a long-distance relationship, she applied to another graduate school in the U.S., just so we could be together.

But right when I thought we finally could be, I learned I hadn’t passed the visa lottery. I had to leave the country.

I felt as if the sky had fallen on me.

She came to New York to help me pack. Then I saw her off at the Megabus stop on 34th Street. We hugged. I watched her get on the bus.

The bus pulled away. I ran after it like a fool. Until I stopped.

A day later, I left the country on a one-way flight.

A year later, we got married, and I was finally able to come back to the U.S.

But the next year, I failed the visa lottery again.

That was a dark time in my life.

Two years later, after failing four times, I finally got my visa.

I sat on the floor and cried hard the moment I heard the news, because my life and career could finally get back on track.

A year later, I finally started my job in architecture. It was demanding, with low pay and late nights. But I endured it, because I knew how hard that job had been to get.

Four years later, she gave birth to our first child. I decided to switch careers to product design, hoping to earn more for our family. After failing job interviews for more than a year, I made it, and doubled my salary. I realized I could do more than I thought I could.

Then, years later, I was debating whether to quit my full-time job and explore a different life. She told me that whatever I decided, she believed in me. I held her hand in mine and told her I’d make a bet. The next day, I put in my notice.

I’m always busy chasing my next goal, and I often forget to appreciate how far I’ve come.

I could not have come this far without her.