I was part of the crowd mulling around at a cocktail party for the Junior Symphony Orchestra in Ottawa.
Trying to do the right thing, I turned to the man beside me,
who looked most distinguished with white hair and a well maintained white beard.
I asked him a simple made-to-order cocktail party conversation opener.
"So what do you do?"
I wasn't prepared for his response.
Tears welled in his eyes.
He took a moment to contain himself.
And then told me his story.
"I ran a business.
A very successful business.
And i hated every moment of it.
What I really wanted to do was to chuck it
and work as an administrator in admissions in a college.
But for years I couldn't bring myself to tell my wife
What I really wanted to do to be happy.
It would mean asking her to accept reducing our style of living by 50%.
One day, I couldn't take being miserable anymore.
I dared to step over the line.
And i opened up to her what I had suppressed for years.
My tears that you saw well up in my eyes
were the tears of gratitude I feel so deeply to my wife.
And will feel forever.
Without a moment's hesitation, she responded.
'Go and do what will make you happy.
We will have no trouble managing with less.'
For the first time in years,
I was a free man....in the true sense of the word!"
