WOW! Do we ever have some great friends in Atlanta despite a 50-year absence! Bill and my older brother were already friends by the time I was born; I have lived none of my life without him in the picture. Ricky and I go back to when our mothers pushed us in baby carriages, followed by Sunday School, college fraternity brothers, and subsequent roommates. Wolbe and I met in nursery school when we were 2, and our friendship has never waned. His wife Judy and I don’t go back nearly as far; we only met in kindergarten. Joel was my younger brother’s best pal.  Bruce and Alan date back to elementary school. Their wives are somewhat more recent, and utterly wonderful people. Danny and I became friends in college at Tulane and our friendship grew through his law school years in Atlanta. Gus and Marsharee are my most recent Atlanta friends, from graduate school at West Georgia College starting in 1971, a mere 45 years ago.

It has been a real thrill spending time with them. They are remarkable people: four lawyers, two therapists, a mortgage broker, a fishmonger , and a CPA, and all of them hilarious, successful, and wise.   Of them, the best bird watcher I know, the best guitar player I know, the most amazing wine collector I know, and the TWO best First Amendment lawyers I know. Since Rebecca and I have only been married for 16 years, she and they are still getting to know each other. I am pretty confident that after this visit, they all approve of each other 100%! We have just had a fantastic time.

We are sad to leave and totally excited to re-hit the road. Sunday, Atlanta to Selma (all on back roads of course) for an evening at the St. James Hotel alongside the Alabama River and Edmund Pettus Bridge (http://www.haunted-places-to-go.com/st-james-hotel.html) followed by a walk across the bridge and Monday morning at the National Voting Rights Museum. Monday, a leisurely drive to New Orleans where we hook up with our great friends Jon and Elisa for the New Year. On Wednesday, my best pal in the world, my brother Joe from Oregon, will join us in New Orleans.

After the New Year, Joe and I will spend the next 11 days driving to Tucson.  Rebecca will be with us for most of that time …. but not all. She will be taking a detour through Omaha (by plane, of course) for Granddaughter Ella’s 13th birthday. Rebecca’s daughter Melissa has three kids, Ella, Seff, and Aaden. Next year, Aaden starts his senior year in high school. Rebecca has NEVER missed a birthday. Transition Tour be damned; she’s not going to miss one this year either!