Leaving SPdL

In 1999 our kids were 6, 3, and one. We had moved from Morningside to East Cobb in 94 (that’s what we were supposed to do, right…have kids, move to the burbs? I jest). Each time we had a baby it got increasingly difficult to make it down to SPdL, especially Wednesday nights. That’s when I accepted a promotion to help run our new Charleston office. We put our house on the market and made several trips to SC to look for a house…real fun with three young kids. The reality of leaving all our friends was starting to hit home when I was asked to delay the move another six months, to work on a project here in Atlanta. After that meeting I stuck around in my boss’s office and asked not to move. There was another guy that could easily take my Charleston spot, and there was another opportunity in Atlanta I could take…with my old boss Steve Apollo, who I used to mention in those SPdL high school Sunday School classes. Things have probably turned out much better staying in town.

We had pretty much already said our goodbyes at SPdL. Since things weren’t like the good old days anyway, decided to look around for another church. That’s how we ended up at North Point. This was several years before the big group left SPdL and started meeting on their own, eventually forming the nucleus of Buckhead Church. When Buckhead opened we considered going down there, since so many old friends were there. Half our North Point small group switched to Buckhead. But with the Buckhead Church crowds, the eventual move to the permanent building further away in the heart of Buckhead, and the roots we’ve made in Alpharetta, we’ll stick out at North Point.

The recent Super Bowl party was fun. It’s one of two annual gatherings of our old SPdL crowd, this one hosted by David & Mary Hurt. Like us, they home school their kids, two daughters aged 13 and 11. They might start modeling, and they’re big into Irish Dance and horseback riding. Mark and Leah Stephens were there…their oldest daughter Ansley is now a sophomore at Auburn. It’s interesting to see all our kids hang out together, especially as they get older. Bob and Myra Marsh showed up, but are heading back soon to Germany. They all enjoyed hearing about Missy. It was the first fun gathering of that gang since Jenny Ewing’s murder last July. Every December Jenny hosted ‘the social event of the season” party, so this year there was none. Some of my August posts tell the story and hopefully capture what a bad time that was.

Charlie Brooks’ brother was married to my aunt (both are long deceased). Once I was riding home from a youth retreat sitting next to young Melanie Sheffield. She mentioned she was related to the Brooks. I perked up and told her that I was also related to them…so we were related to each other! Well, it was exciting at the time.