7 years ago, when I was 24,
七年前，我24歲的時(shí)候

my wife was killed in a horrible car accident,
我妻子在一場(chǎng)可怕的車禍中去世了

leaving me in complete shock and grief
我被拋入了劇烈的震驚與悲慟之中
?

I became a single father to our 2 kids
變成了兩個(gè)孩子的單親爸爸

at the time they were 1 and 3 years old.
那時(shí)他們一個(gè)只有1歲，一個(gè)只有3歲

I didn't have any post high school education
我只有一份小小的高中文憑

and was working as a construction worker.
職業(yè)是建筑工人

Before my wife passed away,
在妻子去世前

we both worked full time
我們都有全職的工作

and were able to rent a small but nice house.
賺的錢還足以租下一件雖然小，卻很溫馨的公寓

But as a single working parent,
可是，成為唯一賺錢養(yǎng)家的單親爸爸后

I could hardly make ends meet
我難以應(yīng)付家里的開(kāi)支

and had to move in to a tiny apartment.
一家人不得不搬到一個(gè)逼仄的小公寓里

That Christmas, when I didn't have enough money left over to get my kids the gifts they deserved,
那年的圣誕節(jié)，我拿不出足夠的錢去為孩子們買他們應(yīng)得的圣誕禮物，這時(shí)我才知道

I really knew I had to do something.
我知道，自己必須得做點(diǎn)什么才行

I started taking college classes at night
我開(kāi)始讀夜校研修大學(xué)學(xué)位

while working 2 jobs,
同時(shí)還做著兩份工作

and after five long years,
五年漫長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間之后

I graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering
我終于獲得了機(jī)械工程專業(yè)的學(xué)士學(xué)位

and got a job making 6 figures.
還得到了 一份薪資6位數(shù)的工作

I bought a nice house with a huge yard for my kids to play in,
我買下了 一幢大房子，屋前還有一個(gè)寬闊的院子，可以讓孩子們玩耍

built them a treehouse,
我還給孩子們搭了一個(gè)樹(shù)屋

and have enough time off to spend plenty of time with them.
工作空余的時(shí)間也很多，可以陪伴孩子們

Last week,
上星期

I took them on a camping trip in the mountains.
我?guī)е⒆觽兊缴嚼锼逘I(yíng)

It's not until now
直到此時(shí)

that I really let myself believe that I actually did it.
我才得以確信，我真的做到了