Holly Davis:
CLASS OF 1977
Franklin-Simpson High SchoolClass of 1977
Franklin, KY
Holly's Story
My story...well, it is difficult to sum up the past 30 years but here goes.
I moved to Texas in 1977 with my husband Gary, where we lived and worked in Houston until 1983. While there, Gary taught me to camp, hunt and canoe - very Texas things to do - and we enjoyed our free time. However, being raised in Kentucky, I missed the seasonal changes in the weather, the landscape and the rolling countryside.
The city was booming and traffic was a nightmare - it was my first experience driving on a freeway and I was terrified. After 3 or 4 accidents, I finally adapted to the local style of driving - very defensively! Unfortunately we spent a lot of time commuting which we would have rather spent otherwise.
I worked for an aviation insurance company - word processors were just coming into the workplace and boy was I thankful that I took typing in high school. It came in very handy, not only at this job, but for the computer generation that was to follow.
I eventually became homesick for my family and Gary indulged me. We returned to Kentucky and lived in Franklin in the country in an old family farmhouse on 40 acres. During this time, we took up hiking and sailing and purchased our first sailboat, a little 19' Buccaneer.
I worked in the office at what was then, Fortune Plastics and is now Silgan Plastics. I was lucky to have a good job and I enjoyed the people I worked for and with.
Life went on until 1991, when Gary was recruited for a job in Richmond, Virginia; a change of scenery was in order and we decided to go.
By this time we had graduated to a 22' Catalina sailboat with a cabin. We put her in a slip in Yorktown, Virginia, and spent many weekends cruising up and down the Chesapeake Bay. We also became avid cyclists as Richmond has an active bicycle club and many county roads suitable for riding. We joined numerous long-distance charity rides and made life-long friends.
I worked for AMF Bowling Inc. in their corporate headquarters for several years. I was assigned to a couple of different areas before landing in marketing, which suited me. I was able to travel with this job quite a bit in the US and a little in Europe and Asia.
Jeremy graduated high school in Richmond and the...Expand for more
n completed a year at Virginia Tech. He was unprepared for the rigors and was not happy with the result. Ultimately, he decided to join the Navy, a stint which lasted 8 years as a Nuclear Engineer, and was a good decision for him.
After Jeremy enlisted, Gary was recruited to work in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We decided to throw caution to the wind, sold everything except personal belongings, bought a 38' sailboat that we could live on and did just that in October 1988. You can imagine the adventures. We took up scuba diving and got our Advanced Open Water certifications which we have since put to very good use.
In March 2001, the company transferred Gary to the Hong Kong office. This was unexpected and we felt we couldn't say no to this once in a lifetime opportunity. We sold our cars and our boat and put our remaining items in storage (where they have been ever since.)
We stayed in Hong Kong for 5 years. During this time, Jeremy got married and he and his wife started their family. I am the proud grandmother of a 4 year old boy and 1 1/2 year old twin girls.
Living in Asia provided us with an opportunity to see a bit of this part of the world and we traveled as time permitted. We have thousands of photos as you can imagine, many are posted to our website.
After 5 stressful working years, Gary retired. Instead of returning directly to the US, we took large backpacks and toured Asia and Europe for 6 months. Too many incredible and wonderful stories to relate!
Landing in the US in December of 2006, we bought a car and travelled the US for 9 months, visiting family and friends and all the places we'd always wanted to go.
Out of the blue, the company that Gary had worked for, called and asked him to come back to Hong Kong. The party was over, so to speak. Or put on hold, at least, until 2010, when we will decide if we want to return to the US or continue on here.
Life in Hong Kong is varied and interesting and I do like it here. However, I miss my family and friends more than words can say and there is no substitute for that.
We continue to enjoy good health which allows us to pursue our hobbies and our families are all doing well. We are grateful for the life we have.
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