I've been with International Paper at the corporate headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut for two years now and have been truly blessed to be with a group of colleagues that I enjoy working with and truly respect. Last July, my company announced a transformation that would change our lives forever. Knowing that the company was planning to relocate its corporate headquarters to Memphis, Tennessee, my company asked that I relocate to Memphis to allow me to continue with my position as Assistant Corporate Secretary. Tony and I took a trip to Memphis and did the usual due diligence- house hunting, schools, neighborhoods, looked at the local Chinese school (can you believe it?) and the local Chinese market. We even put Tony's resume out on the market in Memphis to see if he could find a comparable position. After a heart wrenching analysis, we decided that Memphis would not be a good move for us, so I formally turned down the relocation to Memphis. That same week, Tony was asked to relocate the family to Shanghai, China in order for him to be a part of the Asia Tech Center team. We went through another analysis and decided that it would be critical for his career that we move the family to Shanghai.
After months of uncertainty, things are starting to move and we are now engaged in relocating the family in full swing. As of today, Matthew still doesn't know about the move but, we plan to tell him shortly. Our families don't know yet about the move and quite honestly, I'm afraid to tell them. I know how they will react but hope that in the end they see the phenomenal opportunity that we have been presented and will be happy for us.
I'm very excited about this opportunity for Tony since he has been identified as a key player to this new project and I am excited that Matthew will gain tremendous life experience by living in China and he'll NEVER have to go to Chinese school ever again.
