Page 148 - James Caan - The Real Deal

Chapter 14

Having Fun (1987–1989)

‘ My strategy for growth was to invest all the profits

back into the company and, when the staff saw where

the money was going, their enthusiasm and motivation
went up. ’

n 3 april 1987 I cried for the first time in my adult life.
O When I held my daughter in my arms, I was overcome. I
hadn’t expected it to be such an emotional occasion, but the sense
that she was a part of me, an extension of me in some way, set off
fireworks inside me and the feelings of love, of joy, of pride were
so immense that I wept.
We had spent a long time discussing names before she was born
and we both wanted our children to have names that would bridge
the culture our families were from and the culture they would
grow up in. We chose Jemma-Lia, and from the very beginning
there was no doubt that Jemma was her father’s daughter. She had
my features, my curly hair, and as she developed it was weird to
see that she had my mannerisms, too.
Aisha was not the kind of woman who was going to give up her
career for motherhood, and after a couple of months at home with
Jemma she went back to managing the boutiques and we got a

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