The Emigrant Edge by Brian Buffini

Author:Brian Buffini
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books

1. CHOOSE THE “S” WORD—SACRIFICE

When you see a successful person, you usually only see the public triumphs and not the personal sacrifices they have made to get to where they are. You don’t witness the painful reality of what it takes to succeed.

Over the years, I have made countless sacrifices. For example, because I travel a lot for work, I have missed many of my kids’ sports games, recitals, birthday parties, and bedtimes. Likewise, I have missed date nights and anniversaries with my wife. We travel a lot now as a family, but when we were starting out, there were many years we didn’t go on vacation because we just didn’t have the money.

I remember the first time I went to visit Beverly’s family down South; her grandfather took me out fishing. He was a man of few words, and I felt a little nervous around him. We sat in that boat, waiting for the fish to bite, mostly in silence. Eventually he said, “You fixing to marry my granddaughter, son?”

“Yes, sir,” I stuttered.

“Well, romance without finance leads to the ambulance. Remember that.”

I have never forgotten his words of wisdom!

Beverly is a patient woman who has stuck with me when times were lean . . . and believe me, they were lean. I remember one time I wanted to treat her to a special getaway but, of course, I couldn’t afford it. Then I came across a newspaper ad for a resort in Palm Springs. The hotel and the facilities looked out of this world, and unbelievably, it was in my budget. I thought there must have been some sort of mistake, but when I called, the hotel confirmed it for me—they would give me an incredible deal for ninety-nine dollars a night. They would even upgrade us to a suite for the weekend! Well, I couldn’t believe it and neither could Beverly when I told her I was taking her to a five-star hotel. When we got there, I understood why it was such a good value: Palm Springs is slap-bang in the middle of the desert . . . something this Irish immigrant hadn’t even realized!

It was so hot we couldn’t go outside. We couldn’t sit by the pool or even go for a walk during the day. I could only play golf at night! But, you know, it was cheap, so for years we went to Palm Springs in August because we couldn’t afford to go there any other time of the year.

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