By Johnnie Rowe
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga., Feb. 24, 2015 –Your recent comment took me on a long trip down “memory lane.” Every state in which I have lived has its own personality and special characteristics. I was born in London, Ark. where the local cemetery bears the names of many of my ancestors. When I was six, my family moved to Prescott, Ariz. This “mile high city” was a wonderful small town in the mountains and a perfect place to grow up.
Rowe
My “20 move journey” really began when I married a Naval aviation cadet and moved to Lake City, Fla. and St. Simons Island, Ga. The Navy life ended when the decision was made to earn a college degree. Going to college as a married student presented many challenges.
The “education journey” began in the Philadelphia area, then moved to Arizona to earn a business degree from the University of Arizona. Then we returned to Philadelphia for a master’s degree from the Wharton School.
If I were asked to choose my least favorite place to live it would be Tucson, Ariz. As married college students, we lived in Quonset huts, which were built around a polo field and “cooled” by window air conditioners. For at least six months a year those soaring temperatures were the best reason to remember Tucson as my least favorite place.
The “business journey” began with moves to Teaneck, N.J., back to Philadelphia and a career move to IBM. As other young IBM employees with a good credit rating and $150 down, we bought a three bedroom home in Levittown, Penn. for $9,900 within commuting distance of downtown Philadelphia. Several years later, with IBM success, we “moved up” to a larger home in Levittown for $19,900. Levitt gave young families a great beginning in home ownership.
A career in “hi-tech” led to more moves: Rocky River, Ohio with ice skating on Lake Erie; Gulph Mills and Malvern, Penn.; and Westborough, Mass.
When we told our Philadelphia area friends we were moving to New England they warned us those “Yankees” would not be friendly. They could not have been more wrong!
We bought a wonderful home built in 1710 to be restored by a Gilman man who had restored two other old homes. Because we bought that home, the “townies” were immediate friends. After a couple of years I asked my friends: “How long do I have to live in the ‘Gilman house’ to have it referred to as ‘Johnnie’s house?” The answer, after some thought, was: “If you became an ax murderess, then we would say ‘you know Johnnie Rowe, the ax murderess – who lives in the Gilman house?’”
Westborough was our favorite place to live.
After an especially harsh New England winter we decided to visit friends who lived in Boca Raton, Fla. By the time we flew back to the Boston area we had contracted to have a home built in Boca Raton! We never had even entertained such a move!
We lived in Boca for five years and enjoyed the retirement life, but the desire to re-enter the hi-tech world brought us to the Atlanta area. We really enjoyed being in a neighborhood with lots of young people. We missed that in our retirement life in Boca Raton.
My address for over 30 years was Duluth; it is now Peachtree Corners (and I haven’t moved.) The growth process in Gwinnett has made it a special place to live. Our mayor has announced that we now have our own ZIP code, 30092, and our town center is a “work in progress.”
Follow Us