Don’t Give Up on the Wayward Kid

A few HumbleDollar writers have written that they worry about a child who seems to be on the wrong track in life. Here’s a story about a kid, who, despite a very rocky start, has turned out okay. 

Her early antics could have caused her life to turn out much different. During her early to middle teen years, problems developed at home, things were not great. Eventually, like many teenagers, she met her first love, he was a few years older than she. Wanting to get away from home, she dropped out of high school at age 17 and ran away with him, far away to a different state. Her father hired a private detective, but was unable to find her. You could say they were hippies; there was never much of a future in that life.

Several years passed, she figured out that her first love wasn’t all that, out of money and luck, she reunited with her family. She passed the GED (General Education Development) exam with ease, and then enrolled in a community college to become a medical assistant. She started in an entry level job at a hospital, eventually worked her way up to become an assistant to a VP.

Still in her mid 20s, she met love number two, and tied the knot. He was a good looking muscular fella, void of ambition, and a slob. She came to realize that there had to be more to life. She untied that knot, enrolled in college again, and earned an accounting degree, where she graduated with the highest GPA in the entire graduating class. 

With her diploma in hand, she was hired as a seasonal employee at the local office of one of the country’s larger accounting firms, where she eventually became the office manager. 

She would often travel to some of the firm’s 16 other offices to train personnel; she wrote training manuals, built detailed spreadsheets and databases for the CPAs, and designed web pages for local events, as well as dealing with the HVAC and other contractors that serviced the office building. 

She was in her late 40s, single, and doing just fine, when some nerdy divorced guy bought the duplex next door to her. Both being involved with the tax business, they became fast friends. Chats turned into walks, walks turned into drinks and dinners. 

A few years before retirement from the accounting firm, she was recruited by one of their larger clients and eventually accepted a job where she finished out her career silently working in the audit department. 

It just takes some kids longer to find their footing.

Fast forward to today, she and the former nerdy neighbor just celebrated 23 years together.