If you walk by City Hall in Peachtree City, you’ll see two new faces who aren’t really new at all. As part of the new Founders Corner historical plaza that was unveiled this month, bronze busts of city co-founders Joel Cowan and Floy Farr now greet visitors.
The statues, as well as an ongoing series of engraved markers, were designed to tell the story of Peachtree City’s origins from a rural crossroads to the iconic enclave it is now, 55 years later. They describe important “firsts” in city history, and list the people who were instrumental in creating this planned community.
Seeing the plaza prompted me visualize what my own family’s Peachtree City timeline would look like.
We moved here in 1994 after touring the various Atlanta suburbs and deciding that this was the place for us. One stroll around the lakeside golf cart paths pretty much did it; we found the area scenic, friendly and inviting for a young family.
Our unscientific survey of our new neighborhood indicated that about every third house had an airline employee of some sort, and there wasn’t a native Georgian on the block. But that diversity gave us a sense of camaraderie; if we didn’t “belong” at first, we soon did.
Life on a suburban cul-de-sac might seem like a boring cliché for some, but for us it was perfect. It was comfortable, quiet and provided the setting for what would become our “family of choice” for years to come.
Our family’s milestones were similar to those of many others. Children were born, jobs changed, and life only got busier. We carpooled, volunteered and made more good friends on sports fields and in school auditoriums. Pets were adopted with joy and lost with grief.
We marked the seasons with special rituals. We camped on the edge of Peachtree Parkway on the Fourth of July, eager for the parade. We trick-or-treated by golf cart, and lit luminaries on Christmas Eve.
Our cute elementary schoolers became complex middle schoolers and then fully grown high schoolers who are now on the brink of adulthood and life beyond The Bubble. Friendships both formed and faded, and deaths and divorces cast shadows over happier times.
We turned 40. Some of us have turned 50. And with each spring graduation, we wonder where the years have gone – and occasionally wish we could have one of those simpler days to live over again.
Peachtree City has had growing pains and so have its residents. You’re proud of the good and work harder to fix the bad. And some of it you just try to forget.
The City Hall timeline plaza has space to mark another 100 years. I don’t know if any branches of our family tree will still be here then, but no doubt those of other families we know will. Each generation builds upon the next, and that’s what makes both towns and families special.
Our futures might take different directions, but my family will always cherish the milestones we reached here. Our memories aren’t carved in stone, but they’re forever etched on our hearts.
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