Hard work pays off. Right?

My mom worked hard all her life so I barely saw her between age four and fourteen. My mom had a dream, you see — to give her kids everything they need, and make sure she doesn’t have to rely on a pension plan when she stops working. Last year, both my mom and dad retired after nearly 40 years of hard work. They built a lovely house with evergreen trees and roses on both sides of the long alley that leads from the road, planted grass seed, vegetables and bought a lawn mower.

You would say my mom and dad are happy and I believe they are. But whenever we see each other I feel they would like to go back in time, work a bit less and spend a bit more time with the kids. We don’t see each other very often these days and when we do, it’s brief. Mom has plenty of time now but the kids don’t, because we work very hard. Quite ironic, life.

I was chatting to a friend this evening. We hadn’t chatted properly in three months as each time she texted me, I was working hard. Because I have a dream, you see. And I’ll look back in 40 years, with my dream fulfilled and no need of a pension plan, thinking that I wish I had spent a bit less time working and a bit more catching up with friends and family. Or maybe I’ll read this post, think about mom and remind myself that there’s more to life than hard work. No matter how gratifying it is.