I waited.
“But nobody cared.”
“No.”
“That surprised me.”
“They were mostly interested in dinner.”
He laughed.
Then he shook his head.
“The embarrassing part wasn’t that other people knew more about your career than I did.”
“What was it?”
“That I had years to know you, and I kept choosing the easiest version.”
I looked down at my mug.
“You know me better now.”
“I’m trying.”
“That counts.”
He nodded.
For a while, we listened to the old kitchen clock.
Then Dad asked, “Are you glad you stayed?”
He meant the assignment.
Washington.
Perhaps more than that.
“Yes.”
It was true.
I had not become less ambitious.
I had not stopped caring about my career.
I had simply learned that a meaningful life did not require saying yes to every opportunity that proved my value.
Two years later, I was selected for another promotion opportunity.
This time, when I told my family, nobody asked what rank came afterward.
