All My Ex’es Live in Texas…
“All my exes live in Texas, And Texas is a place I’d dearly love to be, but all my exes live in Texas, and that’s why I hang my hat in Tennessee” - George Strait
Thank you, George Strait, for the great lyrical phrase at the start of that tune! Sandi does, indeed, have a lot of exes in Texas. Not quite the types of exes you may think, though. There’s a different character to them. Since she lived in Texas for much of her teens and early twenties, she left behind a lot of exes that are still in Texas. For example, two of her exes in Texas are High Schools. She attended Huntsville HS as a freshman and sophomore and Temple HS as a junior and senior in high school. When she graduated from Temple High School, it became her last ex-high school. She met up with a few of her exes on our travels through Texas. Let’s introduce you to a few here:
Ex Co-Worker: Ron
One of her exes is a Ron who is a retired ex-coworker from Square D / Schneider Electric. Sandi and Ron were peers and great friends working at Schneider. We met up with Ron and his wife Rosemary over dinner in Houston. While Ron may be an ex-coworker, he is now a real Santa Clause and has been for years. Late summer he begins growing out his trademark beard in preparation for the season.
Ex-Teacher: Shari
Before we met, Sandi worked for Summit Electric based out of Albuquerque selling to Los Alamos National Laboratory. Sandi regularly met up with Shari in Los Alamos and they became friends. Shari ultimately wound up becoming a teacher at the preschool our kids attended in Los Alamos and she was the teacher for our son Michael’s class. So, Shari, who now lives in Texas, is an ex-babysitter / teacher for us. We met up with Shari at her home in central Texas and visited with her, her parents, and her brother (with whom Pat played baseball before meeting Sandi). It was great to also meet Shari’s new “beau” James.
Ex-Roomate: Pam
We had a wonderful evening with Pam who is one of Sandi’s ex-roommates. Pam and Sandi were buddies at Temple High School and then became roommates when they went off to college at Texas A&M. Pam, who now lives in Australia with her husband Dale, was in Austin visiting her Mom and siblings. Although they hadn’t seen each other in over 40 years, the women picked back up almost seamlessly. It was great fun talking about old stories as well as what’s happening in our lives now and the successes and struggles of ourselves and our children. Pam and Dale invited us to visit them at their second home in Costa Rica. Considering that the house is on the market, we may need to change our itinerary to take them up on it!
Ex-Pat: Joanne
Joanne isn’t really an ex from Texas, but she is an American ex-Pat living abroad. We had the good fortune to meet up with Joanne in Texas! Her son (and her granddaughter) lives in Dallas and she was visiting from Thailand so we met up for brunch on the way through town. Joanne and her husband Jens are close friends we made while we all lived in Tampa. When their kids were grown, Joanne and Jens put their faith back to work and became ex-pat Christian missionaries in China (before Covid) and then in Thailand once Covid shut down the world. It was a blessing to be able to meet up with Joanne while she was in Dallas visiting.
Ex-College and College Department: Texas A&M Industrial Distribution
Sandi hadn’t been back to Texas A&M in over 30 years. It was interesting to see what had changed on campus and how much larger it has become. The Industrial Distribution program at Texas A&M launched her career in the electrical industry when she took a position at Summit Electric in Albuquerque. Summit really likes them Aggies. Gig ‘em!
Ex Hangout: The Dixie Chicken
The Dixie Chicken is legendary in College Station, TX and was Sandi’s favorite bar when attending Texas A&M. We’d expand on her memories of this place, but she was generally too intoxicated to remember much!
Ex-Employer: Texas Department of Corrections
This one is a little bit of a cheat. It’s Sandi’s Dad’s ex-employer the Texas Department of Corrections. The Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, TX illuminates the history of the Texas’ prison system the Texas Department of Corrections. When the family lived in Huntsville, TX, it was to enable Sandi’s Dad, who is a retired Psychiatrist, to work at the oldest and most intense prison in the state - the Wall Unit. He enjoyed dealing with the psyche of inmates and violent criminals. It is a fascinating museum and well worth a visit! Among the things they display are details of the Texas Prison Rodeo which was held at the Wall Unit. It sounds like it was the craziest, most intense rodeo imaginable.
