Promised Coffee

A coworker, during a night shift, said that as she was about to turn 30, she had failed to achieve what one should already have at that age. She meant financial stability, owning a house, and having a means of transportation. She said it jokingly, but also in a reflective way.

I don’t think she has failed. She has a child, and she also has a stable partner that almost works like a marriage, even if they’re not legally married. She currently rents, so she’s independent from her parents. Unlike a certain person who still lives with his mother.

Yes. I’m talking about myself now. Although—surprise!—I’m no longer living with her. I’m renting now too, and I feel very good about it. But going back to my coworker, I think she’s being a little unfair to herself. She has achieved a certain real stability in her family life despite so many crises in Cuba.

Because family is everything. There are goals that are harder to reach and require hard work. I don’t think everyone in the world who is about to turn 30 already owns a house. We’re not talking about that cappuccino I was desperate to drink again for months, and that in a miraculous free moment I managed to fulfill the promise I had made to myself.

We’re talking about something big, something that most of the time becomes a transcendent event in our fleeting lives. She still needs to finish her specialty, and with that, job opportunities could help her achieve that fairy tale we’re programmed to believe in since childhood—one that I also long to see come true for myself.

Yes, because in life, I ask for very little. To have a beautiful family, to be able to feed them, to provide my children with a good education, and to enjoy nice vacations together without money being such a problem. For now, my coworker is ahead of me in that race. I think today I’ll tell her so she understands how fortunate she really is.

_{English isn't my native language. Text translated with DeepL}