I never realized how hard the hours worked and weekend on calls were… not for me but my wife. She is fortunate enough to have a job that is pretty much 8-4 everyday.
She never complained when, during the lockdown, about the times I was at my home office desk and she had to bring me a plate of food for dinner. It seems I was never on time for an afterwork appt or meeting. I’ll never forget the time that I was nearly fired for not taking an on-call weekend because my sister was getting married. The boss knew about this four months in advance.
On my last day, a Saturday, I promised to be home on time. And I was. She met me at the door dressed like we were going to a fancy restaurant. She hugged me being careful not o muss her makeup (An inside joke) the scent of her perfume was soon taking a backseat to another of my favorite aromas. She had spent the day making my favorite dish, lasagna with home baked bread and carrot cake for dessert.
I started a new Job a month later. Lower pay, but better hours. That following Saturday I made her favorite dinner.
It’s funny, but it took a layoff to get me to realize what a lousy job I had but more importantly, what a lucky man I am to have such a wife.