We can talk about something together something, together, talk

Sylvia_scj

Since few people come here to write down the words about their feelings or moods, I think maybe it’s better for us to talk about something here together.

Today’s topic: If you get a chance to work abroad for many years, will you leave your spouse for it?

Try to express your opinion in more than 3 sentences.

Thank you.

Sylvia_scj

It seems that most of you will grasp the chance and leave your spouse or family. I think maybe you are all much younger than me, because if somebody asked me this question several years ago, I would definitely have the same opinion as yours, but now I have the opposite view. It’s really hard to imagine leaving your family for such a long time. Here is a little story which could maybe make us think more about it.
“Bill Havens made a decision in 1924. At the Olympic games in Paris in 1924 the sport of canoe racing was added to the list of international competitions. Bill was the favorite to win. A few days before the American team was to leave for Paris, Havens learned that his wife was going to give birth at precisely the same time he would be competing in the Paris Games. In 1924 there were no jet airliners from Paris to the United States, only slow-moving ocean-going ships. And so Bill found himself in a dilemma. Should he go to Paris and risk not being at his wife's side when their first child was born? Or should he withdraw from the team and remain behind. Bill's wife insisted that he go to Paris. After all, he had been working towards this for all these years. It was the culmination of a life-long dream. His wife pleaded with him to go to Paris...that everything would be all right at home. Clearly the decision was not easy for Bill to make. Finally, after much soul searching, Bill decided to withdraw from the competition and remain behind with his wife so that he could be with her when their first child arrived. Havens made a momentous decision. He would give up his chance at immortality. Bill considered being at her side a higher priority than going to Paris to fulfill a life-long dream.
To make a long story short, the United States four-man canoe team won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. And Bill's wife was late in giving birth to her first child. She was so late that Bill could have competed in the event and returned home in time to be with her when she gave birth.
People said, "What a shame." But Bill said he had no regrets. After all, his commitment to his wife was more important then, and it still was now. The story of Bill Havens is a story of how one man paid a high price to fulfill a commitment to someone he loved. It was a life-changing decision.
The child eventually born to Bill and his wife was a boy, whom they named Frank. For 28 years Bill Havens was not certain he made the right decision. Then in the summer of 1952 he received a telegram datelined Helsinki, Finland, the scene of the 1952 Olympic Games. The telegram read, "Dear Dad. Thanks for waiting around for me to be born. I’m coming home with the medal that is yours. Your loving son, Frank." Frank Havens had won the gold medal for his father.
And if you can believe it, Frank Havens won that gold medal for the United States in the canoe-racing event, a medal his father had dreamed of winning but never did. Where did this boy learn such love and faithfulness to family? He learned it from his father who gave up his chance at Olympic gold for a woman he loved and a boy soon to be born. A life-changing decision. ”
You can also find this story in page 27 of the latest DUZHE.

[ 本帖最后由 Sylvia_scj 于 2008-9-8 10:09 AM 编辑 ]

Sylvia_scj

I can't agree with you more.