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Kym and daughters Ellya Paige
and Madison Rose. Vivacious Texas
girl, Kym Langevine, arrived in McKenzie recently to the
home of her mom and step-dad, Linda and Jim Arnold,
themselves relative newcomers to Jim's old hometown. He
graduated from McKenzie High School in 1956 and returned
following his retirement two years ago.
Kym has lived in France for the past eight years with
husband, Fabrice, whom she met while an exchange student in
college. Since then, the family has grown to include
daughters Madison Rose, who will be five in November, and
Ellya Paige, who turns three in August. Fabrice is expected
to arrive in August for a two-week visit before returning to
the village of Civray-de-Touraine, south of Paris, where he
will continue his new-found business, restoring old homes.
 New to Carroll County, Kym has two brothers and a sister
in Texas and Colorado, plus one brother, Sean Kyle, in
McKenzie, where he is a student of Bethel’s physician
assistant program.
Kym’s education took place in Texas. Following her
graduation from high school in Kingsville, she attended
Texas Tech for two years, finishing up four years later at
North Texas University. She shrugs, bright-eyed and with
raised eyebrows, as she explains the time it took her to
graduate with the disclaimer, “I had fun in college.”
The years weren’t without merit. After a false start as a
pre-med student (before deciding “that wasn’t my thing”) she
attained a double-major in French and communications.
Her choice to study French was the result of her
naturally inquisitive nature. “In high school in southern
Texas,” she says, “I heard Spanish all the time; French was
different than what we were hearing, and I fell in love with
the language.”
Her final year of college was spent in France with the
goal of enhancing her proficiency with the language. For Kym,
however, the visit was another opportunity for fun.
“Of course, I only actually went to class the first two
weeks,” she confesses. “I was so bad, my French teacher told
me she wasn’t going to bother grading my assignments. She
said, ‘Just get out there and learn.’”
Within three months, Kym was able to carry on a
conversation, though not without error. “I made lots and
lots of mistakes and got made fun of,” she says, “but by the
end of the year I was pretty confident - although now I
realize how badly I spoke.”
By the end of the term, Kym, then 23 years old in 1995,
says she was “definitely ready” to come home. “I missed
Mexican food,” she laughs, allowing that she’s dined at both
Mexican restaurants in McKenzie since her arrival. “I had
been there a year and I was ready to get back to family and
friends.”
She had met 24-year-old Fabrice at a jazz concert just
three weeks before leaving. A pianist, he worked in the
music industry at the time and many local musicians made use
of his recording studio, Kym says, expounding on his
talents.
Their friendship continued by phone and mail upon her
return to the United States. “We made the phone companies
very happy,” Kym says, regarding their two-to-three hour
conversations.
Her French was slow to improve in conversation with
Fabrice, however. “He thought it was charming when I made
mistakes so he wouldn’t correct me,” she smiles. “He still
does that: he just looks at me and laughs.”
She admits to “making up words” in French when
uncertainty strikes. “I know it’s ‘something like that’ so I
just throw it out there; of course, that can get you in
trouble,” she laughs.
During the year and a half she remained stateside,
Fabrice visited twice before they called off the
relationship after six months, but they remained friends and
visited together when he arrived in the ‘States on business.
After reconciling, he visited a couple of more times before
flying Kym to France for his birthday.
“That’s when I decided, ‘He’s the one,’” she says.
Except for their periodic reunions, the courtship took
place mostly by telephone. In fact, Kym says, “That’s how I
was proposed to.”
It was about three o’clock in the morning when she woke,
wondering, “How am I going to tell my mother?”
She took the easy way out: “I told her on the phone,” Kym
says, “so I didn’t have to see the look on her face.”
Fabrice flew to Texas for the religious ceremony that was
conducted by a justice of the peace outside a four-star
hotel in Dallas, where guests then enjoyed a small
reception. It’s a story they enjoy telling friends in
France, where weddings are likely to last an entire weekend.
Kym thinks this may have something to do with the beauty
of the churches in France: “You want to stay there,” she
says, describing the huge, white limestone blocks and
abundance of sculpture used in the construction of the
centuries-old churches in the region of France where she and
Fabrice reside.
Regarding the oft-heard rumor that the people of France
don’t care for Americans, Kym says, “I personally apply the
mirror method: if I’m nice to others, they’re going to be
nice to me (and vice versa)... even if they are stern-faced.
But I always try to get people to smile; that’s my game.”
She acknow-ledges, however, that the French are “more
closed” in their attitudes, “not openly smiling like
Southern Americans,” a difference in culture that can be a
barrier to understanding.
“They’re very serious people; they have had a lot of
grief,” she says, referring to France’s tumultuous history.
And, she continues, “their standard of living is completely
different: they’re a socialist country so they live or get
by on a minimum of comforts... If you want something in
France, you have to work very hard to get it, there are so
many taxes and charges to pay to the government. There’s an
enormous amount of administration and red tape for anything
you want to do. America is more convenient, and there’s a
lot more opportunity for Americans.”
Another major difference between countries, Kym says, is
that “you don’t meet a lot of Christians in France.” Some,
she says, will say, “I believe in God but I don’t practice.”
Those who do attend services find a very solemn
congregation, she continues, “nothing like the joyous and
uplifting American churches.”
Kym observes that most Christians in France are Catholic
and that Protestant churches, called temples, are different
in character than those in the United States. Nevertheless,
she says resolutely, “I’ve evolved a lot in my spirituality
— it’s opened my mind — you’re almost forced to see things
from another point of view. Before, I was quick to condemn.
I wouldn’t even try to see their side of the story.”
Acknowledging the differences in perspective made her
“more tolerant of people and definitely more forgiving,” she
adds. “I just try to be an example by not being hypocritical
or judgmental.”
Her brother, James Arnold, a missionary and preacher in
Texas, has been a big help in guiding her to become a
witness to others. One of her closest friends, for instance,
previously a non-practicing believer, has become “a little
more open about her faith and about prayer,” Kym says. “Now
she will say, ‘Will you pray for me?’”
Professionally, Kym has been able to be a stay-at-home
mom to Mady and Ellya, who speak both English and French,
while also assuming the accounting end of her husband’s
ventures. He works in the family business, marketing
automatic sanita-tion appliances like self-cleaning toilets
and faucets; industrial-use appli-ances invented by his
father for use in hospitals, bus stations and the like.
Additionally, the couple’s purchase of a 300-year-old
abode—part of an old chateau constructed with thick, stone
walls and many archways—awakened in Fabrice a love of
restoration that has yielded for him a new profession.
“He’s one of those people who know how to do everything,”
Kym says proudly, confident in his abilities. In fact, Kym’s
arrival in the United States heralds, perhaps, the expansion
of his business into the United States as well.
“He may start building houses and look into restoring
them,” she says, hopeful that the family can bridge their
lives between the two countries. “That’s what we always
talked about.”
But her primary goal for the coming year, now that the
girls are old enough for preschool, is to find work, get the
wheels moving toward the construction of a home, and, she
says, “recharge my American batteries and look for
opportunities to soak up the American culture.”
Although the world seems to have grown smaller, brought
closer by technology, the time difference is a reminder that
Kym and Fabrice are half a world apart.
“We talk by phone every day,” she says, which means he
calls her in the afternoon, just before he goes to bed in
France, or during his afternoon, just as she is waking.
Kym and the girls are counting the days until “Papa”
arrives. When he does, chances are he’ll learn first hand
the meaning of Southern hospitality as this young family is
welcomed with open arms into the community. Welcome home
Fabrice, Kym, Mady and Ellya.
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