Met my husband at 17, married at 21, first baby at 27. I see divorcee's have similar problems, living alone burned once by a marriage, but they have children and grandchildren.
I never told anyone what I wanted to do when I grew up as I was ashamed of saying I wanted to get married and have a family, feminists frowned on that in the early 70's when I graduated high school. There is not a day that goes by that my children don't upset me or break my heart, wouldn't trade it for anything though, especially when the grand babies started coming!
Like you, I kept my desire for marriage and children a secret. My dad especially had high hopes and big dreams for my future career. I met my husband after college. The moment our first baby was born I lost any remaining enthusiasm for a career. I sometimes think my dad would have been less disappointed in me if I’d gotten pregnant in high school than he was when we kept having kids. I know I’m a disappointment to him, but I’m happy with my life.
Instead of having an impressive career, I homeschool our kids and work part time as a waitress-same job I had in high school and college. Sometimes I think about how much money I wasted on a degree, but after working in a male dominated career field I know for certain that marriage and motherhood is what God intended for me, so I’ll never wonder “what if?”. I didn’t marry for money so we had several years of intense financial strain, but God saw us through and we are, hopefully, on the other side of that. I still wouldn’t trade what I have for financial security.