When I arrived here 44 years ago, The Woodlands was just being formed. The reason we moved was that my husband worked for George Mitchell at Mitchell Energy. That company used to be based in downtown Houston. They actually decided to move the company to The Woodlands. So, we were living in the southwest part of Houston, and commuting back and forth every day was impossible. That’s when we decided to move to The Woodlands and build a house.

I remember there were barely any grocery stores, so buying food wasn’t easy. We had to go all the way to Highway 1960 to a store called Gemco. A lot has changed in these past years. I remember we were the only two Indian families here. The other family was married to an American. At that time, my daughter was in school, and they invited me to talk about the customs of my country, which was very interesting.

I had lived in Houston and then in Corpus Christi. There, there were one or two people who didn’t like foreigners. I tried to talk to my neighbor several times. I said “hello” so many times, and she would just walk away, looking straight ahead as if I didn’t exist. But in The Woodlands, it was a different story. The people were polite, well-traveled, and they knew that the world isn’t just limited to the United States. They were very open-minded and welcoming to me and my children. They introduced their kids to ours, made an effort to make sure they met other children, and created a friendly environment. Everything here is perfect for me. One time, my children asked, “Are you going to spend the rest of your lives here?” I said yes, because this is the place we love. It has everything we want: lovely people, a good environment, and everything we need is available. The most important thing now is that there are medical facilities, entertainment, shopping—everything within reach. You don’t have to drive far to get what you need. Everything is here, so I don’t miss anything.