I wasn’t afraid of long hours, frozen crawl spaces, or jobs that left rust under my fingernails for days. Plumbing wasn’t glamorous, but it paid our bills, and I took pride in leaving every house better than I found it.
What I couldn’t seem to fix was my own.
Plumbing wasn’t glamorous, but it paid our bills.
Every raise vanished into rent, groceries, daycare, or another repair on the used minivan. No matter how carefully Renee and I planned, our savings account always looked like it was holding its breath.
My wife never blamed me.
That almost made it worse.
Renee had a way of making hard seasons feel temporary. When our landlord raised the rent again, she folded the notice, tucked it into the kitchen drawer, and said, « We’ll figure it out. »
My wife never blamed me.
