But in 1987, a year after the birth of his first son, Nathaniel, and three years of weekend flights to Boston, Hafrey quit his job and moved back to Cambridge to be with his family.

"Sandra was here and thoroughly anchored," he says.

Returning to Cambridge brought a round of changes to Hafrey's life, beginning with his appointment to the position of lecturer at Harvard Business School. From there, Hafrey moved to MIT's Sloan School of Management, where he is now a senior lecturer in management communications and ethics.

In 1990, when first son Nathaniel turned four, Hafrey and Naddaff had their second son, Benjamin.

Two years later, in the fall of 1992, Hafrey and Naddaff were asked to serve as acting-masters of Cabot House while the masters took a semester-long sabbatical. The experience, Hafrey says, was tremendously positive and a harbinger of things to come.

"It was a wonderful semester," Hafrey says. "We thought, 'Geez--this would be a great job.'"

When officials offered Naddaff and Hafrey the positions of Mather House master and co-master, respectively, they excitedly accepted.

"This job is a job we can do as a family," Hafrey says.

Hafrey says he especially enjoys the fact that his sons can observe how adults and students interact.

Having recently begun their second five-year term as masters, Hafrey says the couple's future will be determined by both their careers and their children.

He says keeping up with Nathaniel's traveling soccer team and Benjamin's participation in both baseball and soccer consumes much of the time that remains after job and House duties.

To Hafrey, raising a family within one of Harvard's Houses is a tremendous experience. It is a stop in a winding path that was long in the making--but worth every step.

"You couldn't ask for a richer environment," he says.