Half-way through my eight grade year my parents once again uprooted us from our upstate New York home and moved us south to a small community outside of Atlanta, GA named Alpharetta. At the time Alpharetta was a little known community just inside the Fulton County line and bordering Forsyth CO, best known for once playing host to the KKK national headquarters and the gateway to Lake Lanier. I can not say that I was disappointed with the move, since the crop of available, attractive women in my middle school was probably equal to that of the number of minorities living in Forsyth CO at the time.
This would be our second move to Georgia in four years and I was hoping that this time we were here to stay. The winters in New York were starting to wear on me and I liked the possibility of playing soccer outdoor, year-round. My sister, however, was not as excited. She was going to have to transfer high schools in the middle of her junior year, a traumatic experience that she says scarred her, even to this day. The thing was, the Atlanta area was growing so fast that you were never the new kid for long. I can remember only being the "new" kid for a day. By the end of my first week at Taylor Road Middle School, 14 other kids were starting their first days as well.
(My childhood home in Alpharetta, GA)Over the next eight years while attending Chattahoochee High School (insert Alan Jackson theme music here) and traveling back and forth from Virginia Tech, I would finally come to call Georgia home. To this day if people ask me "where are you from", I will unequivocally say "Georgia". And it is not because I went to high school there or because it was the place that I spent a majority of my adolescence, but because it was the place that made the biggest impact on who I am as a person. I learned the value of a dollar while working at the local Mellow Mushroom, where I spent five years pulling pies (pizza) out of the Baker's Pride Ovens, where I learned what it meant to be a leader while serving as the captain of the Chattahoochee soccer team, and where I learned what it meant to be passionate about something. Passion is something you learn when you become a "Super Fan" and take your place on the front row of every home basketball game for four straight years and successfully visit every high school sporting event, including the Debate Team, senior year. But, above all else, Georgia is home to me because it is where I made the most friends.
(Chattahoochee "Super Fans")Over the past three days I have been staying with my brother in his palacial Atlanta apartment that is located ITP ("Inside The Perimeter" for all you non-Georgians) and have been spending my days bouncing around town catching-up with old friends and reminiscing about our past adventures. People like Chad Miller, a good friend who lived down the street from me in Medlock Bridge and someone who took me to school every morning so that I could avoid the inevitable humiliation of taking the dreaded big yellow bus. Today he is a successful medical sales rep who spends his days juggling life inside the operating room and planning for the arrival of his newborn with his beautiful wife Lindsey. Chad, if you are reading this, call me if you need any baby advice, and remember - whatever a pregnant lady wants, she gets!
(Me & Matthew at the Mellow Mushroom)On day two I got to meet-up with one of my best friends from Georgia and a guy that went MIA during college until I found him on Facebook 10 years later, Matthew Gardner. Matthew and I were inseperable through most of my high school years. Along with a guy named Neil, we did everything from fourwheel the "Peruvicon" to reek havoc around Perimeter Church to attend the annual Monster Truck Rally. You can always tell a true friend when ten years pass by, but the minute you get together it was as if you just spoke yesterday. Matthew - thanks for lunch and good luck on the new edition! Hopefully we can one day be neighbors and once again hit what's left of the "Peruvicon".
(The Hamilton's)Day two also provided me with the opportunity to catch-up with Rachel and Scott Hamilton and their two children. Rachel, Scott and I all grew-up in Medlock Bridge, not more than a mile from each other, but their budding romance didn't kick-in until years later when they both attended college at UGA. They recently, as in last week, welcomed number two into the world, a beautiful boy named Drew, and I was able to see the whole family together for the first time. Scott and Rachel actually ventured west about seven years ago and met Spring and I in Vegas. They have not changed a bit and are still one of the most perfect couples I have ever met. Scott and Rachel - thanks for dinner and if you still want to move out to the desert, Spring and I would be more than willing to swap homes with you! (FYI - from what I hear it is 118 in Vegas today...good luck).
My last day was cut short due to a lingering sickness, that is still brewing inside me to date, but couldn't keep me from seeing one of my best friends from high school, Jeff Klein, Kleiner for short. Kleiner was Mr. Chattahoochee, literally. A walking athletic phenom who actually graduated from the Hooch early to enroll at the University of Auburn where he would play quarterback for the Tigers. Today he is on the coaching staff at the university-esque Alpharetta High School where he is molding future quarterbacks to follow in his footsteps on their way to greatness in the college ranks. He told me about the future development plans for the football program, his desire to one day be a head coach and finding his one true love. Kleiner - thanks for lunch, I owe you! GOT EM!
On my way out of town I stopped by my old house, swung by the Hooch to see if I could find my name anywhere (I couldn't) and cruised down streets that I once called home. It is funny how fast a town will forget you once you leave, but I revel in knowing that I will always be welcomed by the friends that I made when I visit.
Until Tomorrow.
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