About Ed

MEDIA ABOUT ED

My immediate family currently consists of my husband Tim, our dog Bertie, my 90 year old Dad – Jerry - and my Sister – Wendy. My Mom – Carole – died in 2018 at the age of 80, and my older Sister – Randi – died in 2017 at the age of 58 from breast cancer. My Dad’s second wife – Doris – was my stepmother for most of my life and died of dementia in 2009. My Dad is currently married to a lovely woman named Anita and they live in Vista, California northwest of San Diego. Doris had three children from a previous marriage – Ira, Phyllis & Suzy – who I grew up with and loved like my own Sisters. And now of course Tim’s family is my family too. Tim’s Mom & Dad – Karol & Don – and his older sister – Jeannie - & older brother – Donnie – live in areas surrounding Pittsburgh. 

Tim and I met in 2004 at The Duplex Diner at the corner of 18^th St and Florida Avenue in Adams Morgan. We’ve been together ever since. We are definitely a story of how opposites attract. He is eternally modest, careful and unassuming, and I am honest, outspoken & (sometimes) overly frank. Amazingly, we work. We were married in September of 2017 surrounded by 75 friends and family in the magical town of Petritoli in Marche, Italy. It was a week we will never forget.

We met Bertie at the Washington Animal Rescue League in Northwest DC in July of 2013. We fell in love, took her home and our family was complete. She was recently (December 2023) diagnosed with cancer. While she won’t be with us too much longer, she is comfortable and happy and we are comforted by the knowledge that we have provided what was truly a “dog’s life.” 

I always wanted to be a father. I have always been naturally paternalistic – even as a young man. Even though that wasn’t in the cards for me, I was blessed to know people that invited me to become a part of their families. In 2013 when Tim and I were transitioning between homes we owned, we rented a house on Randolph street in North Columbia Heights/Petworth. There was a large brood of kids and their moms’ who lived two doors from us. The moms were all from Coite D’Ivoire and there were about 10 cousins living in the house. The kids would come play with Bertie in our backyard and we got to know them all very well. One day, one of the boys – Hamid Ouattara – left a card in our mailbox. He wanted to invite us to his sixth birthday and for us to become his Godfathers. I may look crusty, but happy things often make me cry. When I got done sobbing we accepted his invitation and became Godfathers to he and his brother – Abraham Ouattara. Their sister – Nancy  - is older and didn’t really need godfathers so much, but we became her godfathers too. They have been an important part of our lives ever since. We are so proud of them and who they’ve grown to become. All the credit, of course, goes to their Mom – Aminata Kone – who has worked extremely hard her entire life and has raised the most amazing children. 

There’s another family that I am extremely proud to include as part of my own. The Torres brothers started working for me in around 2008. The first to work for me was Jose, then Ismael, Alejandro, Emerson, Melvin & Alvaro. They were joined in the US by their sister – Yasmilin – in 2018. They have all come to the United States from El Salvador. They are all incredibly intelligent, honest and hard working.  In 2018 Emerson Torres and his then girlfriend – Noemi – came to live in the apartment in our basement when Emerson began working for me full time. In May of 2019 they were married in our living room in front of all their friends and family. When their son was born I was informed they were naming him Eduardo in my honor.  Again, after lots of grateful, joyful tears I thanked them for the honor and their incredible generosity. Their second son – Erik – was born two years later. I have been the boys’ “abuello Americano,” ever since. I can sincerely say that there is nothing on this planet that brings me as much joy and happiness as spending time with these boys. I will forever be grateful to Noemi & Emerson for their generosity in sharing these angelic monsters with me. I love them. 

The greatest luxury in my life has been the opportunity to travel the world.  

My lifelong passion for exotic travel started as a senior in college. I travelled with my good friend – Abdhul Marwaan Macan Markar – to his family’s home in Colombo to be a guest at his sister Fahima’s wedding. It was 1989 and we flew on Pakistani Airlines (then the most hijacked airline in the world.) The first place outside of North America I ever set foot was Karachi, Pakistan where we had a two day layover. Wow! What a culture shock. Everything was so different and exciting. The Pakistani people were so warm and hospitable and seemed genuinely excited to meet me. In Sri Lanka it was the same, but on steroids. I was taken into the arms of an incredible Muslim family, who I’ve always loved and never lost touch with. In fact, Fahima’s daughter – my de facto niece Thahira – received a Fullbright Scholarship and is currently working on her master’s degree at American University’s School of International Development. I couldn’t be more proud or happy to have her with us in DC.

I was bitten by the international travel bug and succumb to it often. I have been to:

United Kingdom (I’m a bit of an Anglophile and my good friend – Dr. Sloan Mahone - teaches at Oxford. I’ve been to: London, Brighton, Hertfordshire, Bath, Nottingham & Cornwall.)

Italy – Tim and were married in Petriltoli, but we’ve also spent time in Brescia, Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome, Genoa & Bologna. 

Dublin (twice) | Moscow (twice) | Singapore (3 times) | Hong Kong (twice) | Beijing | Bangkok (3 times) | Tokyo | Lisbon | Cairo | Istanbul (twice) | Dubai | Sri Lanka (twice) | Barcelona | Madrid | Amman | Tel Aviv | Jerusalem | Ahmedabad | New Delhi | Karachi | Athens | Buenos Aires | Puerto Vallarta | Seville | Paris | Reykjavik (while the volcano was erupting!) | Casablanca | Tangier

I also love to be on ships. The stormier the seas the better. I’ve done 4 transatlantic cruises with no ports of call. Three of them were in January with fun, stormy seas. Cruises have also given us the opportunity to see cities we’d never otherwise see, like: 

Valetta, Malta | Tunis, Tunisia | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Monaco | Pisa | Kotor, Montenegro | Crete | Cyprus | Kusadasi, Turkey | Santorini | Palermo, Sicily | Naples | Ajaccio, Corsica

Cities of greatest interest for the future:

Seoul | Ho Chi Minh City | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | Bergen, Norway | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Edinburgh, Scotland | Galway, Ireland

Smaller cities in Japan (our next cruise may be a circumnavigation of Japan because we loved Tokyo so much.)

and Kyiv, Ukraine (INSHALLAH!)

I’m truly not bragging. I just love traveling and it has added so much to my life. I appreciate how fortunate I am to have had these experiences and am always happy to hear suggestions from friends and clients regarding great places I’ve missed.       

As I’ve aged i’ve also become a bit of a first class traveller. I play the credit cards/frequent flyer points game, and it has become an enjoyable hobby for me. Most of my trips in the last ten years have been business class and on some I’ve  been lucky enough to fly first class. I’ve enjoyed first class flights on: British Airways, Emirates (both the a380 with shower and the new 777 first class suite,) ANA, Air China, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines a380 first class suites. I have never paid for a first class ticket (except domestically.) I have lots of suggestions and advice if you have any interest in playing the points game.

I love the travel I’ve done and am always happy to share my knowledge and experience with my clients and friends.