Hickey Family
PINPOINTE RESIDENT PROFILE
Roots Run Deep for BrazilianAmerican Family By Patricia Hudson
D
amon and Daniele Hickey first met in the early 2000s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while working for an oil and gas company. Dani was an in-house attorney in the legal department in the Brazil main office and Damon worked in the Robotics group, an expat from the US office on rotation in Brazil, training local employees offshore. Photo Credit: Patricia Hudson
From Friendship to Romance Damon and Dani became friends. “I was helping him with some work-related visa issues. Damon was funny and easygoing. One day, he put a yellow sticky note on my computer screen that said ‘Tu es linda,’ in his best Spanish, to call my attention and flirt with me. We finally went out for a drink and to get to know each other better. We dated about a year and half and one day, at a friend’s wedding reception, he proposed to me on one knee, in front of my family and closest friends. We got engaged that day. Right after 9/11, we moved to the US to get married. It was a tense time in the US and I was very concerned about moving here; I never envisioned marrying a foreigner, leaving my hometown of Rio, my sister, my parents and my extended family.” Work opportunities moved the Hickeys stateside to Corpus Christi, then back to Rio. When Damon was diagnosed with brain cancer, they considered moving back to the US. The triplets were born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The couple purchased a house in Bridgeland in 2009. “Due to work, it sat empty until we relocated to Cypress in 2012. Damon continued medical treatment at the Texas Medical Center; the kids started kindergarten at Pope Elementary,” recalls Daniele. Daniele works for a medical device company in the Legal and Ethics Department, and is responsible for education, training and communication for the US, Latin America and Canada. Damon is an independent consultant in oil, gas, and construction fields and works on a contract basis. Brain Cancer and FIV “When Damon was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2007, the neuro-oncologist asked if we wanted children because Damon would likely become sterile with chemotherapy and
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radiotherapy treatments. We decided on FIV, fertilization in vitro. In one try, I was pregnant with triplets! I never thought in my wildest dreams I would have multiples,” exclaims Daniele. “In Brazil, it is common to hire help to assist in raising your children. We had several nannies that lived with us on a rotation, as both of us worked full time. Damon lived in Macae, a small beach town three hours from Rio; he only came back home to Copacabana on Fridays and left every Monday morning. Damon is a brain cancer survivor,15 years strong, this October.” A Family Affair “Nicholas, Nicole and Nathan were born at 32 weeks, one minute apart, in Rio. The triplets stayed in the NICU for 37 days; they were very small and needed to gain weight. We stayed in Brazil until they were old enough to start school in the US. My parents moved to a unit in our condo and helped a lot! My mom loaned her housekeeper to me; she was responsible for all the nannies in my house while I was working. I was hoping to bring a nanny to help us transition stateside, but because of local labor laws, I was forced to hire someone locally. The issue? The kids only spoke Brazilian Portuguese and no English. We decided to put them in day care to learn English and adapt. It was tough time. My parents, Leila and Alberto, continue to help out; they retired early and moved down the street from us, in Bridgeland.” Nicole, Nathan and Nicholas “The triplets will turn 14 in August. Nicole is an 8th grader at Smith Middle School. She is a Girl Scout, working towards her Silver Award. A member of the National Charity League Cypress Belles Chapter, she completed over 100 hours of service her first year. She does Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and takes
