During my years in Atlanta, I've grown familiar with many of the city's institutions.
Piedmont Hospital, where my children were born, and my life saved from Afib. Grady Hospital, where I was taken after suffering a stroke in Lenox Station.
MARTA, whose trains I rode for years working at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's then downtown headquarters.
The Omni, later the CNN Center, where I ate too many fast-food lunches and covered the Atlanta Knights hockey team.
Peachtree Center, the downtown library. Georgia Tech, where my son attended baseball camp and I saw the Yellow Jackets, Atlanta's skyline rising beyond Grant Field.
Sacred Heart, where I was an earnest catechumen. Christ the King Cathedral, where I was married and our children raised in the church. Peachtree Presbyterian, where our children went to day care, and played basketball, and where I worked out at the health club.
Sarah Smith Elementary, Sutton Middle School and North Atlanta High. The High Museum. The Symphony. The Northside library. Chastain Park. NYO. Bobby Jones and other city golf courses.
During our years in Atlanta, several mayors have come and gone. With the new year, Andre Dickens begins his administration, representing a new generation that has risen, as has happened throughout Atlanta's history.
Driving down Peachtree for the first time this year, I couldn't believe that I'd lived in Atlanta for so long. The brilliant sunshine and blue skies made me glad to be here for a new chapter.
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