Today when I look back I wonder what was I thinking getting married at the age of 21 years. Maybe it was the fear that Ronald was moving to the East Coast or maybe I was just looking to get out of college. I met Ronald in my first year college. He had graduated a year before and had just started his job with a diaper making company. When he was asked to transfer along with a promotion, he proposed to me and I promptly said yes.
I did explore distance learning courses even after the wedding, but then soon dropped it all and took up a job as a cook in a local restaurant. Things worked well with the two of us with me treating my salary more or less as personal money, and Ronald running the household expenses. Then a year and a half later, I got pregnant. Once our daughter Macee was born, I quit work altogether. Then three years later came Donna and we decided that two kids are all we wanted to have.
Once Donna also left for school, I began to wonder if I should go back to working again. It was a huge shock for me to learn that things had changed so much in the last decade. Jobs were much tougher to come by and almost everyone was looking for a degree or some academic backing when hiring. Despite my trying quiet hard, I could not get a halfway decent job that would keep me motivated enough to work.
This got me thinking if I should get back to college and get a degree. I looked into various options. Most required a large amount of money in terms of tuition, fees, books, etc. for three years plus years minimum. Some schools even went on to 8 years. This was ridiculous. I did not have that kind of time or resources to dedicate to a college education. I thought this was going to be the end of it. I will never be able to go back to a job that will pay me anything close to what I would like.
There were some problems in my marriage and I was really keen to stand on my own two feet financially so as to be prepared for the worse. As the gap between Ronald and be kept growing I got more antsy about my career, or rather the lack of it. At this time I began to look at vocational training options. There were many streams to look at. The best part was that these training courses were short and they did not require a whole lot of fee either.
For some reason I was quiet keen on the beauty segment. I decided to take up a beauty training course. They taught everything right from waxing to threading, haircuts, dying, facials; the entire ball game. The course was 6 month in duration and the money was way less that college fee would have been. I jumped at the chance. The timings matched with the kid’s school and I thoroughly enjoyed what I was being taught. Once my course was over, and I obtained my certification, I decided to start a small in house saloon. I started with washing and blow drying, then added hair coloring. Over time I built quite a neat clientele of women who would come to me every month. The fact that I was operating from a room in my house made it all the more easier for them.
In the mean time Ronald and I decided that it is best that we take a break from each other since we were fighting just way too much. Ronald took up a transfer and moved out on the pretext of having to work in another city. I for one knew this is heading for disaster. I began to work with a vengeance. I looked up a few shops for rent about 20 minutes from home and found two. One was too large for my needs while the other was a smaller size. I mentioned it to Ronald that evening and took up the place. I had saved up some money from my garage services and invested this in the saloon that I rented.
Since I already had a list of regulars, it did not take me much time to get the saloon running well. I managed to hire three young women from the same place where I took the class. Ronald would visit twice a month to meet up with the kids. On one of his trips we spoke about how we had drifted apart as partners and wondered if there was any point in keeping this sham of a marriage alive. The divorce was amicable and I did not ask for alimony. Ronald does give child support though.
It’s been three years since I started my own salon. Today I have a much large salon down the street, and have 15 women and men helping me. We have two areas, one for women, and one for men. Most days the salon is so full that people who walk in without an appointment have to wait for a long time.
The girls are doing well too and often come to help me with the business. Ronald and I are still in touch and I guess we will always be. I don’t think there was anything wrong with Ronald or me for that matter, but I do feel that we got married too early, and we grew apart in time. We were both immature and took on much more that we could handle. Since I started working and doing well professionally my entire outlook to life changed. In fact I feel if I was to meet Ronald today, we might be able to have a much better marriage since both of us are much more stable today.
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