(5/17/99)
One wants to be a doctor, one is a horse-back rider, one owns a bed and
breakfast and one was an Olympic volleyball player.
But they all have one thing in common.
The Utah Jazz.
Kathy Aiken begins a four part series on the wives of the Jazz players.
Tonight we start with Kim Russell.
Kim had big dreams of becoming a doctor, but a guy named Bryon came along
and changed it all.
Meet Dr. Kimberli Russell.
"Not yet...hopefully one day," she says.
One day, Kim hopes to become a child psychologist. It's a field she
pursued at Long Beach State where she graduated with honors.
At the same time Bryon was pursuing her.
"When Bryon asked me to marry him I said 'What?!' I had already planned to
apply for masters and grad school, so it was a big halt," Kim says.
With Kim's career on hold, they started their family with daughter Kajun
in 1995, followed by twins
Brittany and Brandon just 10 months ago.
So has Kim's background helped her be a better mother or is she learning things
she were never taught in school?
"That's what it is! I'm learning things I was never taught in school. I give
thumbs up to all mothers."
And on a day she was busy being a mother came the tragic news from
Littleton, Colorado, and she remembered why she still hopes to become a
psychologist.
"That put me back in focus. I'm thinking somebody could have talked to them. If
I was in that town, somebody missed something...that scared me to death that
those kids did that," Kim says.
And it's kids she hopes to help. Kids between 5 and 10 years of age.
"Child psychology is really important to me, just the younger years of a
child's life because I think those younger years make the child," she says.
So Kim has made the choice to stay home with her children, and her dream
of being a doctor is on hold, atleast until the twins are in school.
Looking back, she says she wouldn't change anything.
Kim says Bryon is a terrific hands-on father, something I was able to see
before our interview.
By the way, Bryon wants five children, Kim wants three. It looks like Kim will
win.
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