Georgia

“Other arms reach out to me. Other eyes smile tenderly. Still in peaceful dreams I see, the road leads back to you.” - Ray Charles
A few songs do make me a little teary-eyed every now and then - It is Well With My Soul, God Bless the USA, Agnus Dei, and of course, Georgia on My Mind. I’m not sure why; maybe it is because of the memories, perhaps the reflection of the songwriter’s life or even the mood of the tune. My best guess is that I am emotionally attached to the topic and the setting that brought this song to my life more than any other. During the summers at Stone Mountain Park, just east of Atlanta, they would put on a terrific laser show with lots of music, technology, and fireworks. Occasionally the small pines at the base of the mountain would require some dousing, but nothing dampened to moods of those warm summer evenings in Georgia after seeing familiar laser renditions put to music - Dixieland, Celestial Sodapop, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Proud to Be an American, and Georgia on My Mind. It was at Stone Mountain that I first discovered feelings for my future bride and also that we eventually went to dinner for our first Homecoming. I would ride my bike there on weekends from Georgia Tech taking the Georgia Path and I’ve spent countless nights with my family at the Stone Mountain Inn. I’ve hiked to the top with scouts year-in, year-out, and I’ve circumnavigated the granite monolith at least a dozen times on the Stone Mountain Railroad. I even assisted a friend (one of my groomsmen) with his proposal to his future bride at Stone Mountain and attended the wedding of another great friend, my best friend from high school, as well.

I would have to say that some of my best memories, collectively, outside my homes in this state, were at Stone Mountain, and Ray Charles was always there to serenade me and provide a fitting backdrop to the fun I had there. This is not to say that I didn’t experience more of Georgia than just Stone Mountain - on the contrary, after living there for 22 years, I built such a bank of memories, that it would be impossible to keep within the technological bounds of this website to convey all of them. We lived in five homes in the state, not to mention my five years at college, and attended a few different churches. I learned to sail in the estuaries of Darien, GA near Blackbeard Island and I sang three years in a row at Georgia All-State in Savannah. I watched the skyline of Atlanta transform before my very eyes during my stay at Georgia Tech and I experienced employment in the state of Georgia in at least a dozen positions. My favorite band, Third Day, is from the same county where I attended all grade school and my favorite drink, Coca-Cola, was invented over a hundred years ago at a pharmacy in downtown Atlanta. I don’t eat grits, but I love Waffle House and The Varsity. My bride and I were married in a Christian Missionary Alliance church east of Atlanta and we kicked off our honeymoon at the Ritz-Carlton downtown. I could almost drive blindfolded using Atlanta’s Interstate system to just about any exit within a 60 mile radius of the city - and many of my fellow drivers around me seem to be doing just that. I may never live in the state of Georgia again as the traffic and countless Starbucks would drive me crazy, but no matter how I shake it, Georgia will always be on my mind.

Thanks, Ray.