英語美文:我真的做到了

7 years ago, when I was 24,
七年前，我24歲的時候
my wife was killed in a horrible car accident,
我妻子在一場可怕的車禍中去世了
leaving me in complete shock and grief
我被拋入了劇烈的震驚與悲慟之中

I became a single father to our 2 kids
變成了兩個孩子的單親爸爸
at the time they were 1 and 3 years old.
那時他們一個只有1歲，一個只有3歲
I didn't have any post high school education
我只有一份小小的高中文憑
and was working as a construction worker.
職業是建築工人
Before my wife passed away,
在妻子去世前
we both worked full time
我們都有全職的工作
and were able to rent a small but nice house.
賺的錢還足以租下一件雖然小，卻很溫馨的公寓
But as a single working parent,
可是，成爲唯一賺錢養家的單親爸爸後
I could hardly make ends meet
我難以應付家裏的開支
and had to move in to a tiny apartment.
一家人不得不搬到一個逼仄的小公寓裏
That Christmas, when I didn't have enough money left over to get my kids the gifts they deserved,
那年的聖誕節，我拿不出足夠的錢去爲孩子們買他們應得的聖誕禮物，這時我才知道
I really knew I had to do something.
我知道，自己必須得做點什麼才行
I started taking college classes at night
我開始讀夜校研修大學學位
while working 2 jobs,
同時還做着兩份工作
and after five long years,
五年漫長的時間之後
I graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering
我終於獲得了機械工程專業的學士學位
and got a job making 6 figures.
還得到了 一份薪資6位數的工作
I bought a nice house with a huge yard for my kids to play in,
我買下了 一幢大房子，屋前還有一個寬闊的院子，可以讓孩子們玩耍
built them a treehouse,
我還給孩子們搭了一個樹屋
and have enough time off to spend plenty of time with them.
工作空餘的時間也很多，可以陪伴孩子們
Last week,
上星期
I took them on a camping trip in the mountains.
我帶着孩子們到山裏宿營
It's not until now
直到此時
that I really let myself believe that I actually did it.
我才得以確信，我真的做到了