Lindy Augsburger H.

This is our four kids last Thanksgiving (2009) here in Houston.  Morgan (28), Amanda (25), Alexa (30), and Chase (32).  Amanda is holding her then 2 month old daughter, Avery.  Behind her is her husband Steven.  Behind Alexa is her husband Jeff.  Neither of our boys are married (yet!)

The second picture is from the same day, but includes my husband Steve and me.

The third is of me with daughter Amanda and one year old Avery, in Austin, on Avery's first birthday -- 09-09-10.

After graduation from Central I spent the summer living with a French family in Vichy, France studying French with Classrooms Abroad.  That Fall I started at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri -- an all girls residential college!!!  Ha!  (I thought I'd concentrate better on classes with no boys around.  I didn't know that the Univ. of Missouri was a block and a half away!  Or that Stephens employed M.U. guys as buss boys in our dining halls!!!  That's how I met my husband!!).  Anyway.....I graduated in 1970 with a major in Art and a minor in French.  Steve and I married in 1971 and lived in Kansas City, Mo where he worked for an engineering firm.  But by that Fall we moved to Pittsburgh, Pa. where Steve got his master's degree at Carnegie-Mellon.  In 1973  Texas Instruments hired him and off we went to Dallas. Then we moved to Houston for 3 months while he went through a training project.   Then we moved back to Dallas, where, by October of that same year, TI offered him an overseas assignment in....France!  Thank you, French classes!!!   We lived in Nice, France for 2 years , then moved to Italy for 2 years, then back to France for a few more years, all with TI.  By the time we moved back to Dallas in 1980 we had 2 children.  Son Chase was born in 1977 in Tulsa (I came home from Italy to have him, and at the time Muskogee General didn't allow fathers in the delivery room, so we did our Lamaze classes and birth in Tulsa), and daughter Alexa was born in France in 1979.  Back in Dallas our son Morgan was born in 1981.  In 1983 Steve left TI and went to work for a company in New York.  That was my toughest foreign assignment!!!   I never changed my Texas license plates, so sure we wouldn't be there long!!!  Compaq Computer hired Steve in 1984 and off we went to Houston, where daughter Amanda was born later that year.  By 1987 Compaq was ready to expand, and our family moved to Singapore, where we lived till 1993.  We loved Singapore.  Not even our kids wanted to move back to the States!!  But back to Houston we came, and have lived here for 17 years.   Steve retired in 1996 and really misses the moving around (we actually moved 17 times in the first 22 years we were married), so we have recently bought a house in Austin, Texas, where we will be moving sometime next year.  Now lest you think all I have done is pack and unpack for 40 years, I'll tell you that after graduating from college I flew for TWA for a while (Boy!!  Anybody remember THEM???!?) before I got married, then worked as a stock transfer agent in Kansas City, was a dental assistant and stained-glass instructor in Pittsburgh, a 'professional tourist' (!) in France and Italy, did quadruple time as church and school volunteer for the kids in Dallas and New York, did some modeling in Houston, worked as an artist for a women's magazine in Singapore, as well as for the Singapore American school, plus the usual kids' activity volunteer, and before moving back to Houston, became a breast cancer victim and survivor in 1992.  Back in Houston in 1993, I became involved not only in all the kids' activities, but also with local charities, the church, and our community.  When the last chickie went off to college, I got a job at my all time favorite place:  The Cookie Bouquet!!!   I had always wanted to decorate their cookies!!!  It was fun but by then Steve had retired and wanted to travel, so I quit after a year, although loved getting to go in and help during busy times like Valentines, Mother's Day, and Christmas!
Briefly, I will describe my kids as... A hippy, a yuppy, a preppie, and a bride:
 
Chase has 2 college degrees (philosophy and creative writing -- Suma Cum Laude no less) yet is a singer/songwriter and has a band here in Houston.
Alexa graduated from Southern Methodist University in media journalism and was a TV news anchor in Texas and Arkansas before she got married.  Now she is a spokeswoman for the NRA in Washington. DC.
Morgan went to SMU, Austin Community College, Houston Community College (are you seeing a pattern here???) before he found his nitch and became an x-ray technician, moved to Chicago and now works for Northwestern Memorial Hospital.  He also just got accepted into their work/study program so is going back to school to major in Human Biology.
Amanda went to the University of Houston for one semester, hated it, went to a community college to become a hair stylist, got married, and moved to Florida!  Then they moved back to Austin, Texas, and, 5 years later, gave us our first grandbaby last year!
My best job yet?   Grandmother!

xxxlindy