Ever since I was young, I was known for my fondness for planning and order. At least, that’s what others used to say, I like to believe that I was prepared for the future. All eventualities should be accounted for. I sailed through school with my colour-coded notebooks and meticulously planned schedule. You would think that I was the lonely nerd in the class, on the contrary, I had a good social life, and I made meaningful connections. But yes, some of it might not have been entirely natural and I did have to pave my way through various circles. Who doesn’t do that though? In the end, life is a rat race, isn’t it?
My ability to maintain a sense of control and order while still enjoying all aspects of college life was a great asset. And it did help that I could throw some memorable parties during that period. It was then that I met Sara; was it love at first sight? Hell no!
Sara is someone who would not be a leader of the group but she would be the second in command. She is kind and charming, and quite loud too. I can not list out all her qualities(I don’t want to) but I felt a pull towards her after we met at a small get-together party during our semester break.
Do you really want to hear all this though?
Well, I will spare you the details of how Sara and I started dating, but it didn’t take long before we realized we were meant for each other. Soon after, we decided to start a family of our own. Our first child was a boy, and we named him Ethan. He was a cute chubby baby, always smiling and laughing. We were blessed with our second child, a little girl, a few years later. We named her Emily. She was a joy to be around, always curious and eager to learn.
Emily is everything I had hoped for; she has a knack for science and always got excellent academic scores.
Now, let me tell you about Ethan. Ethan is a good kid, a bit shy at times, but always willing to help out when he can. He’s not the smartest kid in his class, but he tries hard and always does his best. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and I know he will make something of himself one day.
But as he hit his teenage years, something changed. He sort of became a slacker, you know? It’s disappointing to see potential go to waste. He would act a bit dodgy with us. I didn’t expect him to be this way. I thought he would handle his life better.
Sara did not see the fault in him, she always saw the best in people. Until she caught him shooting up in our garage one evening. She was not supposed to be there that evening but dropped by home earlier than she was supposed to due to some car troubles, I should have seen this happening. I was overconfident and did not account for it, she was able to process it when she saw both Ethan and me in the garage.
I don’t suppose that there was any way I could make her understand that this is the life I had seen, I would have a perfect daughter and a troublesome son. There is nothing wrong is working towards the future you dreamt for yourself, this is why we plan. A gentle nudge and swaying the events to make your plans a reality is harmless, isn’t it?
