First, let me tell you a little bit about my day, then I’ll talk about my feelings. Wow, I sound like such a girl!

Up after the sun, but before my 7am alarm. I had to see my girls and family before they all left for work, school, home and I left for Atlanta. MG was being a three year old and didn’t want to get dressed, we all tried. She didn’t want La La to help her, she didn’t want Poppa to help her,she didn’t want me to help her, but five minutes later, I want Auntie J to do it, ok! One leg, two legs, shirt, all dressed.

Next was bye bye, give kisses to Auntie, where are you going? Are you taking a plane? When will we FaceTime and just as quickly as it started, they were gone, kisses and hugs, see you soon. Then it was Poppa and La La’s turn, bye daddy, see you soon! Safe travels.

Then TRS came to pick me up with Miss S for breakfast, that was a treat, we hadn’t been out to breakfast, just the two of us ever and it had been a long time since we got a chance to sit and visit, it was great and I got hugs and kisses from Miss S! I love having a bunch of kids call me auntie!

A few hours of work, then off to the airport (I left my sisters house at 2:40 and arrived home t 11:58).
The flight was uneventful, sat next to a nice man, we talked about books, I finished my Carl Hiassen book and gave it to him, one less thing for me to take with me! I dozed off after takeoff, woke up just before the drinks, like clockwork!

So, coming home…
As I was getting off the train in Atlanta at baggage claim, I realized this was the last time I was “coming home” to Atlanta. The next time I travel to Atlanta, I will be staying with friends or at a hotel, I won’t be going to pick up my car, I will be getting a rental car. I got a little choked up as I was climbing the escalator realizing that.

For 19 years I have called Atlanta home, can you believe it, 19 years! I have lived in five cities, 6 different residences in that time. I lived in a house as an au pair in a McMansion in Sandy Springs when I first moved to Georgia, next was an apartment in Dunwoody with one roommate, then another apartment down the road in Dunwoody, with two friends (not anymore, when they say you shouldn’t live with your best friend, they weren’t kidding!) then my first apartment by myself in The Highland, ahhhh. Then buying my first house in Snellville, “Where everybody is Somebody” (I promise, that is the city slogan!).

Three years later, I moved farther out to Loganville (try saying that with a straight face!) where I have been for the last ten years, in a house that I have loved and a neighborhood that has brought me amazing amounts of happiness over the last ten years. I believe that a lot of my life would not have been the same if I hadn’t moved into the neighborhood, good and bad. I think it goes along with what I wrote about fate and coincidences.

When I moved in, I was told this was a “Leave it to Beaver” neighborhood, they could not have been more right! There were neighborhood parties, friendships, Halloween parties for the kids, parades honoring our veterans and patriots, we hosted neighborhood baby showers, if someone was sick or had someone pass, flowers and food was organized. The day I bought the house, there was an article in the Gwinnett Daily Post about this neighborhood with A PICTURE OF MY HOUSE! (I attached a picture) what are the odds?

I have to tell you, I was happy where I was and who I was with, but Georgia has never truly been my home, they say home is where the heart is, that is very true, my heart was with someone, so I was happy where they were. About a year after I moved to Georgia, I was ready to leave, I was either going back to NYC or the Peace Corps, I had my application in hand and then I met the wasband and I stayed.

After we separated, the house went on the market, I was ready to move on, make a fresh start and I would not have looked back. I had friends at the time that I was close with, but not as close as I am today. As time went on and the house did not sell, I began to settle in and get comfortable, in the house, my surroundings and in my own skin.

I formed new friendships and strengthened the ones I had had for a long time, TS, CKM, SDL, LK to name a few, the ones who were really there for me when I was going through a really rough time, my SLAH family, DF, SJ, SS, then as I started working again, I made new friends, RS, JCT, MB, SS, SD, and even recently at my “new” job, DL. I rekindled friendships that only got stronger, JT, BG, NB, MM, HNM, CTS, DG, I know I am just touching on my list, please know there are so many more who are near and dear to me. You and I know who you are!

Now, even though I know I will keep in touch with everyone, (I am going to do my darnedest to keep my promise!) with the amazing technology we have available to us and my love of travel, it’s really hitting home that I’m leaving. I am excited to be starting a new chapter in my life, I am moving towards something wonderful and I am excited to experience this with someone so important to me, we will have new adventures that I cannot wait to share with all of you.

But it is still a little bittersweet as I drive down Ponce de Leon to Scott Blvd to Hwy 78, I’m not going to be stopping at Fellini’s for a slice and a coke on the way home from the airport, pull into the neighborhood that caught my eye and makes me happy every time I drive home because it is so beautiful and welcoming, pull into my driveway and look at this place I have called home for over ten years. I know it will be surreal when the truck is loaded and we head out leaving all I have known and what I have called home for almost half of my life.