Volume XXIII, Number 50 (Issue 1159) December 15, 2025
A Single Thread
I moved to San Antonio from Houston on March 1, 1990, following the sale of my consulting practice to a larger competitor that was headquartered here. The decision to sell my firm was precipitated by a couple of impromptu conversations with the competitor’s CEO when he and I found ourselves staying in the same hotel in downtown Austin.
Sandy and the kids waited four months to permanently join me to allow our children to finish out the school year as well as wrap up some other commitments. During the weekends between March 1 and July 2 they would either join me here to do some house hunting, or I would return to Houston to help get our Houston home ready for sale. To narrow down our search area, Sandy did a bit of research about the local school districts and medical facilities (one of our children was asthmatic so easy access to medical care was important).
With the help of our realtor, we toured dozens of homes and numerous neighborhoods before we found a house that, while not our dream home, checked many of our boxes. So, we struck a deal with the sellers and made the move – not knowing at the time that we would soon meet some neighbors who would dramatically impact our lives in the coming years.
For starters, our new neighbors had two daughters who were the same ages as our two youngest children. Through that connection we found ourselves being invited to join them at church. That church, St. Mark’s Episcopal, located in downtown San Antonio, soon became our church home. There, we found an entire community that both taught and grounded us. As part of that I met a couple of men who would eventually become incredible mentors to me along my journey. Sandy also found an outlet for her passion as a volunteer that soon enough led to significant formal and informal leadership roles at the local, county, and state levels.
Along the way, one older, retired couple from St. Mark’s took us under their wings. Turns out the Agans, Sailor and Louise, were among the first people we met at our new church home. It was not long thereafter that the two of them began encouraging us to attend Cursillio – a couples’ faith-based weekend retreat. After I ran out of plausible excuses to decline their invitation, we (I) finally agreed to make it happen. Thus, we traveled to Camp Capers in the Texas Hill Country one Friday afternoon. It was there during that weekend that I was first inspired to make a radical shift in my consulting career – moving from a focus on risk management to one where human capital became calling. I thus spent the next two years winding down my existing client commitments while simultaneously retooling my knowledge base and reorienting and rebuilding my practice.
Jumping forward three decades, many more threads, numerous inflection points, and countless decisions, I can honestly say that pulling on a single thread at a chance meeting in Austin in 1989 has enriched my and my family’s lives in incredible ways. Furthermore, I believe that that one encounter has resulted in some profound, positive changes in the lives of others. At least some feedback tells me so.
Let me ask you, can you point to a time or two when pulling on a single thread made a difference in your or someone else’s course and life? I bet you can.
Soli Deo Gloria
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” Psalm 37:5
J. Keith Hughey
Mobile: (210) 260-0955
E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
Website: www.jkeithhughey.com
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Copyright 2025 by J. Keith Hughey. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for reproduction and redistribution of this essay as provided under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Recent issues of Musings may be found at www.jkeithhughey.com. Your comments are always welcome.