From The Big Apple To The Big Peach

One month ago today, I made note of my 2nd anniversary in New York City. In doing so, I posed the question as to whether I would be living here in a year from now.

One week from today, I will be moving to Atlanta, Georgia to start a new job in November.

Simply put, I will be moving from the Big Apple to the Big Peach.

I have been offered a position by Epiq Systems as a Records Specialist Lead and shall be assigned to an international law firm in the city. Despite my efforts to make a good of it as a writer and my foray as a paralegal, I have spent most of my professional career as a records clerk primarily in the insurance industry before moving on to law firm settings. What can I say? I'm good at it. Quite good actually. Good enough to move more than 850 miles down the East Coast. This particular records position is a step up as I will be in a lead role and compensated accordingly. 

I have some family in the Atlanta area including my Aunt Marlene (one of my Dad's sisters) and a some cousins. Hopefully his will be an opportunity to get to know them better notwithstanding any COVID constraints. My cousin Marsha (Marlene's daughter) was instrumental in helping me a find an apartment within a 30 minute walk to work which has relieved my burdens considerably.

I will be situated in Midtown Atlanta near Piedmont Park and Georgia Tech - long known for its baseball program. The likes of Kevin Brown, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, Mark Teixeira and Matt Wieters played for the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets before enjoying distinguished big league careers. Then there are the Braves who came oh so close to winning a NL pennant. I don't know if I'll be in any rush to attend any games as long as there's a pandemic, however. But all in good time.

It must be noted that I came very close to returning to Boston. At the same time I was being interviewed for this position in Atlanta, I was also being interviewed for a similar position with a law firm in Boston's Financial District - very familiar terrain. Given the 18 and a half years I spent in Boston, I would have taken less money to go back up north to renew old acquaintances, seek out new ones while immersing myself in candlepin bowling. Alas, I was not offered the position. My disappointment was mitigated by the fact that someone out there wants me. If I cannot go back north then I'll fly south.

Naturally this means leaving my Dad behind. But he was fine before my arrival and he will do just fine after I leave. He is as fit as a 79-year old man can be and in his element in New York City. I look forward to returning to celebrate his 80th birthday next April (fingers, toes and appendages crossed). I'm glad we had this time together.

In the grand scheme of things, however, New York & I were a mismatch. Given all that has happened this year, leaving New York City is a step in the right direction for me as it has been for many others who have found greener pastures.

Obviously there will be a period of adjustment in Atlanta - a new city and a new region with its own norms and idiosyncrasies. Keep in mind that I've never been south nor west of Cincinnati where it concerns the United States. I did have some good experiences working with Southerners from Georgia, the Carolinas and Texas who came up to Boston during Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago when I was working in the insurance sector. So I do have that frame of reference and hopefully it will be of help to me as I begin this new chapter of my life. As it turns out, you can go duckpin bowling in Atlanta. Perhaps the chapter will start there. Who knows what pursuits, passions and people I shall discover in the course of this new chapter. 

While there will be challenges living in Atlanta, in the grand scheme of things, I am very fortunate. I have my health (knock on wood) and I am starting a new job. Many Americans are in a far more perilous state than I am especially with President Trump's mishandling of the pandemic and his refusal and that of Republicans to offer more stimulus and extend enhanced unemployment benefits. One can only hope we will have the wisdom to elect Joe Biden to the White House and give Democrats control of the Senate. It won't be a paradise much less perfect, but as Sam Elliott put it, "We can go from there."

Above all else, I hope my time Atlanta will be peachy. If I am truly fortunate then perhaps I shall find my own rhythm section.