SAS Sweethearts Dodge Dynasty and headed south. We both found work quickly, which must’ve greatly relieved our parents, and enjoyed New Orleans a lot. Jen’s job as office manager wasn’t very interesting, but my job was good and so was the money, so I kept working while I went to school and graduated from Loyola University School of Law in 1997. Jen and I were finally married in 1995 — not so much a grand wedding, but a really good party. I went to work for a small, well-regarded downtown law firm. Jen decided that being a full-time mother was more interesting than managing an office. She quit working when Case was born in 1998
Getting the kids into SAS was a condition for taking the job and Sophia followed in 2000. We still talked about “the overseas thing,” but it was less and less in the forefront. Then I changed jobs and we moved to Houston. I took an in-house position, which got me back to Southeast Asia reasonably often. I spent some time helping the company to become established in Singapore, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, but could never convince the bosses that I needed to be there full time. In 2004, I relocated to Dubai. We stayed there four years, and found it okay, if a bit soulless. Not surprisingly, expat-dom agreed with the kids. We left just as Dubai was coming to grips with its own penchant for excess. We returned to Katy, Texas, a Houston suburb. Life was fine and good in that very suburban Houston kind of way — big new house in a well-manicured neighborhood near
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schools and shops and golf courses. Ate too much Tex-Mex. Went to Astros games. Marveled at the anti-Obamaness of it all (and I don’t even consider myself a Democrat). The company I’m with now, Cal Dive International, is a Houston-based marine construction and diving company that runs most of its international business from Singapore. They contacted me when I was in a receptive mood, and I am now the company’s legal manager. Getting the kids into SAS was a condition for taking the job, and we were so pleased that things worked out. I am certain we were given admission preference because I was voted “Most Romantic” in 1987. Jen and the kids followed in early July. She outfitted our apartment at Arcadia (the building she lived in when we met in 86!) beautifully. The kids take “new” in such easy stride and already think nothing of the rain, catching geckos and dim sum or la mien brunches. Jen is really happy to be back, as I am. She loves the diversity and feel of Singapore, which are still present, even with all the changes since the 1980s. Her parents used Singapore as a springboard to explore Asia when Jen was a child. She visited kampungs and rain forests, helped the Vietnamese refugees who were in transit in Singapore and ate curries off banana leaves with her fingers. She says she didn’t appreciate the experiences when she was a spoiled 16-yearold expat, but she now treasures them. I’ll admit to loving the SAS campus grounds, but the building layout less so. I keep getting lost. Jen and I still feel the magic at SAS, even though it is a different campus. We appreciate the effort the school makes to “feel small.” Both kids said they didn’t feel new after just a few days. That said, SAS is still huge, which makes the amount of personal attention Case and Sophia have received from their teachers and division principals nothing short of incredible. Poor kids, they won’t be able to get away with anything! ■
11/24/10, 12:13 PM