Our Own Little Christmas part 2/8:
She’s busy too, I told myself. She has a country to run. She probably doesn’t even notice I’m not there most of the time. It was a lie, and I knew it. She noticed. I could see it in her eyes when I would return. And I dreaded seeing the pain on her face when it was time for me to leave again. She never cried though, never complained. I think she knew it would only make it that much harder for me. And we both knew I couldn’t give up. She established the Delmar Shark Institute for me. It was an unbelievable gift, one that went against every natural instinct she had. But she did it for me because she knew how much it meant to me, so I was going to earn it. I just never knew the price I would have to pay, the sacrifices both of us would have to make.
I’m almost done, I told myself. It’s almost over. With the college courses I’d taken in high school and being able to go to school full time, I’d completed my undergraduate studies in just two and a half years. I gave up competitive swimming to devote my full attention to getting my degree. I immediately started working on my master’s degree and only had a little further to go to finish it. Once I started on my PhD, I could spend a whole lot more time at home working at the shark institute. No more going back and forth every day. No more nights away from home. No more saying goodbye to Terra. I just had a little bit more to go, but she had no idea. She knew I’d been pushing myself, but I hadn’t really been keeping her up to date on my progress, mostly because I didn’t want to disappoint her if I failed. So, I set my goal and kept it to myself.