And now….. a little story with a lesson.

So, I’m on my way back from an assignment in Europe – (sorry, I thought about posting to Metblogs while I was there but, I sort of wanted to forget about Atlanta for awhile)…

I’m sitting in my seat thinking, “oh boy, what conservative, watered down movie am I going to have to endure on the 7 hour flight back?” – “Do I have any sleeping pills?” – “How much is liquor in business class?”

Important questions, you know.

All the sudden I saw a large magazine sticking out of the pouch in front of me. Why it was ATLANTA MAGAZINE! Gee wiz, there’s no escape. But, I thought, why not? I’ll see what’s happening in the Big Peach this month.

So, I’m cruising at 40K feet reading about my little ‘ole city wondering if there were still 8000 cosmetic surgeons in Atlanta (the answer is yes) and flipping through the magazine.

Page one: The first annual Atlanta LUXURY Expo. Okay. Then it went: luxury car ad, luxury car ad, cometic surgeon, homes from the 900’s, upscale clothes, luxury car ad, cosmetic surgeon – (pay up front) – luxury apartments, luxury condos, lame and boring museum… Oh, Ralph Reed is back in Ga. Suddenly Alabama is a liberal state.

Oh, there was a spread on Atlanta radio stations – Nix the sleeping pills!

Five new upscale office parks and a 500000 page special on Atlanta’s SUPER LAWYERS.

I thought about telling the Flight Attendant I left my tooth brush in London and could we turn back to get it but, decided she would think I was a terrorist, declare an in-flight emergency and have the air marshals beat me senseless.

No, I was coming back to “The ATL” (I hate that term… Atlanta is such a pretty name) and there was no way out of it.

As you can tell, I was not in a good mood. I asked myself, what happened to the State I loved 25 years ago? What happened to Atlanta that has made me want to smoke a cigar with Sherman? Well, I decided I would have to find out because I didn’t want to eventually pull up life long roots and leave mad.

THEN, ALL OF THE SUDDEN………………………

The this “little old lady” who was sitting next to me woke up and started talking.

“You from ‘A-Lan-Na’?”

“Yes Ma’am”.

“Guess you ready to get home then”?

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“You look like a Georgia Boy.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Born and raised.”

[ insert small talk ]

“I remember me and my Sister used to go down to ‘A-Lan-Na’ to have ‘coffee break’ with my Momma’s Sister. She lived down in the middle of the town. We’d ride down there on the bus and she’d pick us up at the bus stop and take us back to her house. We’d ride around in her car all over the city and look at the homes and the stores and we’d go to the Capitol and then to Rich’s – the one that used to be downtown. We’d have the most fun. The people were real nice and treated us so sweet. We were poor back then and I always thought that ‘A-Lan-Na’ was for the rich people but, my Aunt used to introduce us to lot’s of real nice folks when we’d visit.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Sounds like the Atlanta I used to know when I was growing up.”

“It sure has changed. My Son lives there now and I just don’t know how he gets around. He’s picking me up at the airport. You think you could show me how to get to the right place. He can’t come to the gate anymore because of the terrorist everywhere – they won’t let you through without a ticket.”

“Yes, Ma’am, You can follow me through customs.”

[insert small talk]

“My Daughter took me to England – I loved it and all but, I’m kind of glad to get ‘back South’. She stayed over there and put me back on the plane so my Son could pick me up. It’s gonna be nice to be back home……. you know, where you grow up is always gonna be home to ya. You know, home is just home.”

Right then.. I almost cried.

That’s what I love about Georgia! It’s HOME. The people, the place – home.

(if only I were going back to TARA)

So, my friends – I was given a lesson in “perspective”. Sometimes, your memories don’t fail you, it’s just the way you see things in the moment that make you believe your memories are all you have.

You know what’s even more amazing? I knew her son! I used to work with him and lost track of him!

I came “Home” AND found an old friend.

Only in “A-Lan-Na”!

Rock on! “Ya’ll” miss me?