Friday Five — Best Laid Plans

It’s Friday, so it must be time for The Friday Five writing prompt! Five different words each week to get the creative juices flowing. To visit the other participants, click here.
This week’s words are: increase, retire, dairy, hiccup, verdict
Please bear with me today…No Fred tales, as I just don’t have the brain power for that currently. It’s been a very trying week (which actually started last Friday) and my brain, she is tired. Still, I wanted to write something, so here we go.

Best Laid Plans…

Anna’s husband worked his butt off from the moment he turned eighteen and joined the Air Force. A self-starter, he did his four years, got out and started working toward his ultimate goal: comfortable, early retirement. He carefully considered all the options that didn’t require a college degree (so being a doctor or a lawyer was off the table) and that would earn a decent paycheck so he could increase his assets significantly enough to be a lad of leisure by the time he was 50 or so. The verdict? Getting a job in IT.
It was the middle of the 90s. The internet was taking off. Many PCs were still running MS-DOS, Windows was in its infancy, and the idea of things like social media were barely blips on the radar. Long days and nights of studying while working full time in retail earned him his first Microsoft Certification. Anna worked hard in a management job so they could buy a house and pay the bills.
Spending long nights with his cup of strong, black coffee (no non-fat dairy free mocha latte for him!), he earned a few more. At long last, the placement agencies started to consider his resume. Eventually, he got his foot in the door at a well-known computer firm. He was on his way to achieving his dreams.
Then the hiccup. They learned they were expecting a baby. Their plan had always been for her to stay home with any children they had, but the removal of her income dramatically decreased the chance of his early retirement. Still, children over money, right? Sacrifices could and would be made for that special soul they welcomed into the world. Twenty years later, with retirement at 50 a pipe dream… was it worth it? You’d have to ask him. But their daughter certainly thinks so…