From Here I Can… Raise a Connected, Cross-Cultural Family
“Make My Move helped make the decision and the move a lot easier. We got memberships to different local organizations like the art museum, and that helped substantially for us to feel connected.”
Pete Schaffner
From Wayne County to France — And Back.
Pete Schaffner had been a lifelong Wayne County resident when he packed up his belongings and moved to Paris, France, in 2014. In France, Pete would meet his wife, start a family, and embark on a new career — one that would eventually lead him right back to where he grew up.
Pete, a Ball State University fine arts graduate, was working as a graphic designer for IronGate Creative in Hagerstown when he first began tinkering with website and software development. When the opportunity arose to join a small tech company in France as a software developer, he jumped at the chance to further his career in tech.
At first, the move was like a fairy tale. “It was romantic,” Pete says, “being able to explore and see another country and culture — especially Paris.”
But once the glamour of living in another country began to fade, Pete began considering a return to the states — until he met Laura and got a job offer from Google Paris.
“I was moving into a new apartment building with all my boxes,” says Laura, “when my mother ran into Pete. He was living on the floor below mine, and she came to tell me about this American she’d run into — she didn’t speak English, so I went to introduce myself and ran into him on the stairs. I took cookies to him a few days later, and then he asked me out.”
Pete’s career continued to advance, and so did their relationship — Pete and Laura tied the knot in 2017. Their first child was born not long after.
“After she was born, Laura and I started having talks about moving back — but at the time, it was just talk,” says Pete. “It would come up once every few months, but work was going well, and it was hard to justify the move, because we weren’t sure what I would do for work back home.”
Left: Pete and his daughter share a smile on a Paris street. Middle: Laura and their daughter take a selfie near the Eiffel Tower. Right: Laura holds their son during a stroll through the city.
Then came Covid. Pete’s work at Google became more remote-based, and eventually, he took a fully remote position at another company.
“Once I found the right job, a job that was the right fit in terms of pay, what I enjoyed, and the ability to be remote — we decided it was time to make the move back to Indiana.”
Making the Move
Moving was a big decision, but one the couple was excited about. Pete had fond memories of growing up in rural Wayne County, and Laura had loved spending her own childhood summers in the French countryside with her grandparents and cousins. Moving to Wayne County would mean giving their two children the same opportunity to grow up connected to family and the outdoors.
“We were both excited about giving that kind of lifestyle to the kids,” Pete says. He had loved being free to explore and use his imagination outdoors growing up, and Laura was also excited to live in a place where their children could be surrounded by nature.
Pete and Laura made the arrangements to purchase Pete’s childhood home from his mom and stepdad in northern Wayne County, and he worked with one of his childhood friends, Jay Hale of Hale Design and Construction, to do some work on it before they arrived — so when they landed, they had a home that felt made for them.
The family of four arrived in the Cincinnati airport in April 2024 with just six suitcases. But when they arrived at their new home, they found it stocked with everything they needed to start their new life.
“It was huge,” says Pete. “Our family made it such a smooth transition for us. Laura was in tears when we walked in, because you couldn’t ask for anything better when moving to a different country.”
Reforging Community Connections
Now that he was back in Indiana, Pete found himself having to reforge connections — and make new ones for his family. Luckily, the Make My Move program through Home in Wayne made the entire process even easier.
“Make My Move helped make the decision and the move a lot easier,” Pete says. “We got memberships to different local organizations like the art museum, and that helped substantially for us to feel connected. And it was fun, because when I visited the EDC’s office when we got back, I realized I knew a lot of them from when I’d worked at IronGate. It was great to be able to catch up and interact with them as the face of that program.”
Pete and Laura were also looking forward to enrolling their kids in Hagerstown Elementary. With just a month left in the school year, the staff at Hagerstown Elementary worked with Pete and Laura to enroll their daughter in a kindergarten class.
“The school was great,” Pete says. “They worked with us to get her placed, and even though it was a hard transition, she adjusted really quickly. Laura was immediately impressed with the school. The teachers, the school itself, everything was organized and helpful. It was how I remembered it, too — it’s the right-sized school where you can get personalized support and help if you need it.”
Laura agrees. “I really value that the kids have a good school system that can be respectful of each child’s needs. One of my biggest fears before moving was not having that. But when we moved here, it was so great. We loved her teacher, we loved the staff. They did everything to make our daughter feel welcome. They even had a sensory room where she could go when she was feeling overwhelmed. I think it helped a lot.”
Today, Pete and Laura’s daughter is a second grader at Hagerstown Elementary, and their son is in his second year of preschool there. They spend time with cousins, aunts, and uncles on the family farm, and Laura has even started her own small pottery business, Laura Schaffner Pottery.
From here, they’re raising a cross-cultural family that’s connected to family, nature, and a community that cares.
