For the longest time, Deb has had one dream: to go on an amazing trip to Greece. But her husband, Dan, continues to put it off.
When Deb is well into her 60s, she takes matters into her own hands and uses all the money she has saved to finally go on her trip. But when she comes back, will Dan still be there?For as long as I could remember, Greece had been my dream place for a trip.
I’d picture myself walking through the ruins of Athens on vacation, watching the sun dip below the horizon in Santorini, the whitewashed cliffs glowing in the evening light.Dreamy, right?
That vision was the one thing that kept me going through the grind of life, the countless sacrifices, the constant pressure of work. Greece was my escape, my reward after years of holding it together.
So, I started saving. Every dollar I could spare went into a little fund, hidden away for the trip I’d promised myself I’d take one day. My plan was simple: I’d save up as much as I could, and when I reached my goal, I’d go on this dream trip with my husband, Dan. We’d been married for years, and from the very beginning, I’d been upfront about this magical trip that I dreamed of.
”We’ll go next year, Deb,” Dan always said. “Yeah, honey, I’m all for it. Let’s just get everything in order with our home and let me pay off my debt, and then I’m good to go!” At first, I believed him. I mean, why wouldn’t I?
But when Dan started to talk about his debt more, I figured that if I wanted to make this trip happen, I should start saving more for our trip. I was a private chef at the time, and I worked for two different families per week, but because I wanted to make more money, I started doing personal orders for custom cakes or desserts.”Why are you overdoing it at work, Deb?” Dan asked me one evening when I was too tired to cook, so I ordered pizza for our dinner. “Because I want to save money, Dan,” I said simply. “I want to get us to Greece.” “Oh, for goodness’ sake, Deborah. When will you stop about Greece?” he muttered.
“I’ll stop when I go. Don’t you want to come with me?” I asked.My husband softened and poured me a glass of wine. “Of course, darling,” he said. “I’m sorry, I’m just stressed out at work. Being a math teacher to kids who don’t want to learn is so difficult.””It’s okay,” I said, trying to figure out whether he was being sincere or not.
“I promise you, Deb, I’m all for it,” he said.Naturally, I thought that we would work toward it together. But every time the topic came up, Dan would say something about “next year.” And every time “next year” came around, there was some excuse. “Work is too busy, Deb.” “I can’t afford to take the time off.” “The geyser is broken and the dishwasher is on its way out. We need to prioritize that before we think about a holiday.”I told myself that it was okay. After all, we’d go eventually, right? That’s what people did, put off things for a while, then enjoyed them when life finally settled down.
