Ben and Mary Ann don’t have a story about how they met, because it happened when they were 7 or 8 years old and so neither remembers that crucial moment. In later life (that is, high school), they battled it out for all academic awards, a rivalry which culminated in their being named joint math students of the year as 10th graders. Ben subsequently gave up the field by transferring to boarding school, eventually becoming a mathematician, whereas Mary Ann did not rest on her laurels, and went on to the wider world of linguistics.

Mary Ann was always fascinated by the wide world and used to check out foreign travel guides from the library in order to plan imaginary trips as a young child. She did not actually get to leave the US, except for a short trip to Monterey, Mexico for a family wedding, until finishing her undergraduate degree. She then made up for lost time and managed to meet her life goal of visiting at least twenty countries, shortly before her tenth high school reunion. Ones she has lived in for extended periods include England, Yemen, Sweden, and Germany. And her native Texas, of course, which is also a whole 'nother country.

Her firstborn child visited 9 countries before turning two and a half (more if you count Hawaii, Texas and two in utero). That’s upward mobility! Some of his precocious peregrinations are documented here.

Mary Ann has three accomplished siblings and two accomplished parents, all of whom have Southern-style double names, like her. Mix and match!

	Becky	Blanche
	Billy	Boy
	Bonnie	Clyde
	Cindy	Leigh
	Will	Lynn