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modern life
by Leslie Pepper
Bridging the
D istance
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Near-constant communication—hello cell phones and text
messages!—is the trick to keeping this Ohio family close when
dad spends most of the workweek in California.
n a typical Monday, the sun is only just starting to
rise in Ohio when Tim Schigel heads to work.
The 41-year-old father of three drives to the
airport, goes through security, then waits for his
plane to board. Five hours later, about 8 A.M.
OPacific Standard Time, he arrives at his office in
San Francisco—a commute of over 2,000 miles.
Meanwhile, back in Cincinnati, Tim’s wife of
18 years, Laura, 44, and their three kids—Joe, 16,
Amy, 14, and Hannah, 12—are going about their
days. Earlier, Laura was thrilled when she found a
little gift on the kitchen table from her husband, a
package of her favorite macaroon cookies. “Tim
is always doing sweet things for me,” she says.
Sometimes she reciprocates with love notes in
his pockets. It’s these kinds of gestures that keep
Laura and Tim close, even though most of the
time they’re thousands of miles apart.
Tim has always traveled a lot for work, most
recently to board meetings all over the United
States on behalf of a venture capital company.
A little over a year ago, he decided to start his
own tech firm. In order to grow an Internet
business, a West Coast presence is essential,
according to Tim. So in establishing his start-up,
the couple knew he was committing to California.
Initially, Tim and Laura assumed they would all
relocate. They put their Cincinnati home on the
