I was always very good about keeping journals. In high school, I used to maintain a daily log of my activities. Every day, I wrote down what I did and how I was feeling. I could look back at those journals years later and when I read the contents, it would instantly transport me back into time as if I was experiencing it all over again. By the time I got to college, I still wrote from time to time, but it was significantly less often. By the time I had graduated from college, I was simply too busy to maintain any substantial log of events other than looking at my Lotus Notes calendar at work. The point I'm trying to make is that I feel it's important to keep a journal. It's important to know where you have been, where you are today, and what you are wishing for in the future. Without something to remind you of all the memories, both good and bad, it all eventually disappears into a fog.
I was born on September 26, 1979 at 5:53 p.m. at Northside Hospital near Atlanta, Georgia. For the first eighteen years of my life, my family and I lived at 3001 Davenport Road in Duluth, Georgia. That's the stage where all of my childhood memories originated. I used to play outside for hours and hours. My sister Lara and I would play in the sandbox, fly kites, swing on our swingset, ride our bikes, and chase after our dogs Tasha and Teddy. In my early adolescent years, it would be a place for me to construct forts, create my own adventures, and learn a lot about myself and who I was becoming. I used to rearrange the furniture in my bedroom on a weekly basis. Nothing ever stayed the same. The limitations of life and living seemed invisible and without end.
In December 1997, shortly after turning 18 years old, my family and I moved to a new home in Dacula, Georgia. It was a time of change. The days of building forts and playing with legos was over. Somewhere in the thick of things, I had grown up. I was looking square in the face of my final five months in high school, with college and a career in sight. I had already been working for three years (since I was 15) at Lawrenceville-Suwanee Animal Hospital. I had traveled to Honduras, wrecked my first car (a 1986 Pontiac Firebird), and received my first speeding ticket. My heart had already been broken at least once. Yes, I was starting to grow up, but I had a long way to go.
In June 1998, I graduated from Duluth High School with a 3.3 grade point average. It was good enough to get me into school at Berry College. In that last summer before life truly changed, I spent as much time as possible with friends, traveling wherever I could afford. I was active in church, and loved my church family. I had a sense of belonging, and a purpose. It would all be shaken to the core in the coming years.
In August 1998, I enrolled at Berry College and life would never be the same for me. I struggled greatly in that first year to find myself. I couldn't get comfortable, anxiety would not loosen its grip, and homesickness was something I often experienced. It all started to fade by the end of the first year, and the following three years were truly memorable. I made a lot of friends, finally decided on a major, and was in a relationship with a girl who would eventually become my fiancee in my senior year of college. Looking back, I hate to say I wasted a lot of time, but since this person eventually left me, a lot of my time in college was simply lost.
In May 2002, I graduated from Berry College with a bachelor's degree in Finance. I moved back home to live with my parents and a short time later, landed my first "real" job with SunTrust Bank as a Financial Services Representative inside a Publix branch. I wore a suit to work each day, met a lot of people in the community, and felt a sense of stability and direction for the first time in a while. It wouldn't last long, as turnover at the branch and overall decline in my happiness led to some difficult days ahead. My fiancee left me on November 10, 2003.
On July 7, 2003, I started working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in the ACH department. My primary duties of training and analytical work would pave the way for future opportunities and advancements.
In February 2004, I traveled to Syracuse, New York to get away from the hectic life surrounding me. I had a friend that lived in the area, and she was planning to show me around. I had never actually met her before, but we had talked for a number of years. Little did I know that someday, we would be married. After that very first visit, I knew that she was someone very special. I used the word "unique" to describe her for months and months.
On March 23, 2005, the two of us purchased our first home together, near my parents in Dacula, Georgia.
On June 11, 2005, my wife Lisa and I were married in the small upstate New York town of Palermo. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were surrounded by multitudes of family and friends. We spent our honeymoon at Niagara Falls, Canada. The next month, we celebrated in Georgia as well with friends who were unable to attend the wedding.
It's August 2007, and new memories are created each day. I love her with all my heart, and am happy with life and it's current direction. I am truly very blessed.
