Dad and daughter: Claire satisfies repressed desires for Daddy… My wife Angela and I live in a small city on the East Coast. We would be considered part of the top 10% of income earners; comfortable but by no means rich. My name is Michael and I’m fifty-two years old. I work for a well known, Fortune 500 Technology Company at the top end of middle management. As I said, I make pretty decent money to support my wife of thirty years and our three mostly grown children.
Angela is fifty-four years old and had worked a high powered job until she got pregnant twenty-six years ago and opted for a career as a stay-at-home-mom. I was on board with that decision initially but once the third child was in school, I kept pushing her to get a job. I couldn’t figure out what she could possibly do with herself all day alone. I made enough money to support our life-style but an additional income would have been nice. Angela was always able to provide just enough justification for staying home and whenever the topic came up, it ended in an argument. I learned the hard way not to bring up the subject.
Truth be told, Angela had lost her confidence in her business prowess when her third child entered the school system sixteen years ago. She never used this truth when she argued her point of view. She started taking up her free time by volunteering for various charities and municipal boards and committees. She befriended many rich and powerful people over the last fifteen years.
Angela and I had been very much in love way back then when I was a sophomore and she was a senior in college. We got married soon after I graduated and we enjoyed our two childless years and had planned on several more. Angela was using an IUD when she unexpectedly found out she was pregnant with our first daughter whom we named Amelia. We called her “Melli” from day one and still do twenty-five years later.
Melli graduated from the State University with a Business and Financial Management degree at age twenty-two and accepted a job with the same company that I work for. That was three years ago. The company generally nips nepotism in the bud but as long as family members don’t work in the same department, there’s no problem.
Angela was anxious to get back to work after taking some time off to care for Melli. She had plans to use the company provided child-care facility. Before any of that could happen, she was pregnant again with a son, Matthew. Now she was starting all over again and when she thought the time was right to return to her company, her job wasn’t available anymore. She couldn’t contemplate starting a career all over again so she settled for staying home and convinced herself that she was happy doing so. Angela never found keeping a house and being a wife and mom to be particularly challenging which melded perfectly with her dwindling confidence.
Matthew is twenty-four now. He always hated school and had no plans to extend the pain into College. His mother and I recognized Matthew’s struggles with school and had enrolled him in a vocational tech high school. He has done well and is apprenticing under a licensed Electrician. He is married to a wonderful woman, Sarah, one year younger and they have a beautiful six month old baby boy, Nicholas. Everyone calls him “Nicky”. They live next door to Sarah’s parents, which allowed Sarah to go back to work after her three month pregnancy leave. Nicky goes to her parents during the day. Angela has never expressed any interest in taking care of Nicky during the day and we see him only when Matthew and Sarah visit which is now only on holidays.