Andy Andrews - Inspirational Corporate Speaker

Why We Still Live Here

Monday, October 6, 2008

After the last posting Why Do They Stay?, I anticipated hearing the question, "Why do you still live there?" And I have. The question has come from several sources since many of you link my blogs with your own or send them to your friends. In addition, quite a few newspapers printed that last one ...

My point is that I have had more than ample opportunity to talk about and think about my answers. And they are not as simple as I'd first imagined. The answers are shallow in places, but some go much deeper than I thought they would. Please remember as you read, this is only my opinion. We are not arguing a "truth" here. That being said, I am interested in your "whys" about where you live. I'll bet some of yours line up with mine.

Here now, five reasons why we still live here ...

1) Ya gotta live somewhere!

After Hurricane Ivan destroyed our house four years ago, my business manager was promoting a move to Nashville. "You never know when this might happen again," he would say. A few months later, a tornado hit Nashville killing 27 people and destroying hundreds of homes. Obviously, they had little warning. When Ivan hit here, at least they told us to leave. And no one was killed.

I suppose we could live in Nebraska or Oklahoma, but they have tornados there, too. The Pacific Northwest is beautiful. Mount St. Helens and Sasquatch ... need I say more? Minnesota ... you can die shoveling snow there. New York City? I imagine terrorists standing in line in New York City. Washington D.C.? You never want to be the smartest person in the town where you live (I'm kidding). Maybe California ... ? Nope, sorry. I'll take my three day hurricane warning. You can wake up to your earthquake. Or fire. Or mudslide.

Anyway, ya gotta live somewhere. So I do.

2) Kevin is here ...

And Pat and Sandy and Joe and Alan and the Habers and the Salters and the Gilleys. John and Shannon are here with Lacy in the summer. SB lives here. And PC and the Woo. Jerry and Katrina, Mike and Melanie, Greta and Greg, Ted and Kathryn, Cliff and Myrth. Debbie and Steve are moving back soon with Eli and Bailey Grace. Hopefully, Mr. Dave and Miss Mary will be close behind. Claudia and Hunter and Shelby live right across the street. Joey and Elizabeth, (whom I continue to love even though they sent my boys home with TWO kittens) live here.

The church we've gone to for fourteen years is here. The blond lady who works at the dry cleaners who always puts the cleaning in the car—she's here. Clay and Susan and Becky and Tom, our pharmacists at Winn-Dixie all live here. Dr. Art, the Chiropractor, Miss Nancy who drives the Auburn pick-up, Merle at Cotton Creek, Ted and Lynn at Pack & Mail, Nancy and Willie at Sea N Suds ...

These are just some of the awesome friends who live near us. And most of the other people here are just like them. There is something special about these folks and this area. When Hurricane Ivan blasted through Wolf Bay Lodge (one of our favorite places to eat), some of the things to blow away were the more than 10,000 one-dollar bills that had been signed and stapled to the ceiling throughout the past twenty years. No one knows how many were lost at sea, but of the bills that were spread over thirty miles of coastline, 7,500 of them were returned. That's right. More than seven thousand, five hundred one dollar bills returned with a "We saw it was signed, so we knew it was yours," to Wolf Bay Lodge.

We can't leave this area. If we left, we'd have to take everyone with us!

3) Fresh Seafood.

Last Friday night, Pat called and asked if we wanted to go fishing the next morning. We did and had filets on the grill that night. Kevin came in with a couple of yellowfin tuna on Sunday afternoon. Polly fixed the rice and we had sushi ... immediately. We catch blue crabs off the dock, speckled trout, flounder and redfish under the dock lights at night, and drag a trawl for shrimp whenever we want them. Several years ago, I caught 110 pounds of shrimp in one morning!

Yeah, yeah, I hear you. "Andy," you are saying, "we get fresh seafood, too!" No, sorry, you probably don't. Unless you live on a coast and/or catch it yourself, it isn't fresh. I know the sign says fresh in the store. I know the waiter says it's fresh at the restaurant. But believe me—a day or two on the boat, a day in the truck, and a couple of days at the store before it goes to the restaurant ... is not fresh.

Catch them in the morning. Eat them that night. That's fresh.

4) Unique learning opportunities.

One example: our salt-water aquarium. Understand, this is not one of the big expensive saltwater tanks with a thousand dollars worth of fish. Our aquarium is a $59.95, twelve-gallon set up from Wal-Mart. No special mixture for the salt water, no thermostat, no testing. It's just shells from the beach, three or four buckets full of water from the dock, and whatever critters we catch in our own backyard.

Austin and Adam spend hours with their cast nets. They keep the aquarium supplied with pets like our seahorses Flicka and Ed, the little electric ray Sting Ray Knight, and our clam ... Clamu. We have starfish and scallops and pipefish, too. Aquarium feeding time is a family event for us and it happens several times a week. All the critters eat tiny shrimp that we wade through the grass beds to catch (even in winter) with a tiny meshed net.

And while I am thinking about it, even winter is pretty warm. We might have one or two nights a year that go below freezing, but most Decembers, Santa rides around our town in a red '55 Thunderbird convertible.

5) My history is here.

I read somewhere that almost 90% of us feel strong ties to a specific city or state. I guess I do. My parents honeymooned on the Alabama coast in 1957 and took a week's vacation here every year until they died. My sister, Kristi, and I went on all those vacations and in a way, grew up here. I see things that remind me of them every day. So many of the restaurants and the businesses and churches are in the same place.

Daddy took me to Frith's bait shop to buy our live shrimp when I was a little boy. Soon after Mama and Daddy died, I worked there for a while, selling those shrimp by the dozen under the watchful eye of Mr. Frith. Now, I take my little boys in to buy shrimp from Mr. Frith's son, Butch. I could catch them myself, but Butch shakes their hands and teases them about the size of the fish in the stories they tell. It's worth whatever I have to pay to feel that sense of my daddy in that shop watching the grandsons he never got to meet.

Polly and I lived in a small condo when we got married, but we have only owned one house. It is the same one we live in today. It is where our boys have always lived. It is where I write. It is the place we have laughed most often, cried occasionally, and come to know ourselves. More than a house, it is our home.

So that is why we still live here. Not the greatest of reasons, maybe, but they are our reasons. And even through the stressful years after Ivan—even though we swore if it ever happened again, we would move—I suspect we might be here for a long time still. No matter what.

Posted in Uncategorized | Make a Comment (40) |

1. Cary Harvey - October 6, 2008 @ 5:34 PM

"Amen, brother.
For #1-5 that's why they call it home."

2. Charissa - October 6, 2008 @ 5:43 PM

"I could not agree more! I live and work in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and it is a great place to raise your children and make plenty of memories. I have been here 8 years from Illinois and this is where I call "home" even though I have moved around here A LOT in this area. I know of all the great people you have mentioned (Winn Dixie, Pack and Mail, and Sea and Suds). My absolute favorite thing about being on the coast though is the "fresh" seafood. We get to look foward to it all the time, we are all blessed to live in such an awesome place."

3. Debbie Alexander - October 6, 2008 @ 5:50 PM

"And for those of us from the New Orleans Metro area, "Your Mama and Them" live here and we have the best food in the world and a "melting pot" of cultures which always makes it a little quirky....and that's what it's all about!

I bet this blog could go on forever because even lots of the people who leave, come home....and they would all have a special reason why they did...or why we stay."

4. Michelle - October 6, 2008 @ 5:52 PM

"Rock On Andy! I think it is great that you know why you live where you do and your community sounds wonderful. I hope you won't have any more smash ups by Mother Nature."

5. Roger J. Kaiser and Janie - October 6, 2008 @ 5:54 PM

"Andy, great story, same reason we stay. Love ya, Roger & Janie"

6. Juanita Owen - October 6, 2008 @ 5:56 PM

"As my husband and I left the beach house this morning and walked to Fort Morgan, it is very clear why people stay. White squeaky sand, only a few other people on the beach. It is a wonderful place to get away, clear your head and put
life back into perpective.
If someone is lucky enough to be here year round, good for them. The
storms will come. I have spent a few hours in a closet in North Alabama waiting for tornado threats to pass. So really we all face weather issues. Hurricanes just seem to cover a wider area. None of us are storm free, but if we are prepared hopefully we will make it through.

Love your work, Keep blogging and tell Mr. Smith hi from his friend at
UAHuntsville."

7. Carol McCracken - October 6, 2008 @ 5:58 PM

"I know it was simply an oversight, but I'm here to help you out. You are here, because of the marvelous yoga routines that your local instructor provides....oh wait....your lovely wife is actually the one who partakes...somehow, you never make it in...what with that intensive writing schedule and all. I know you want to come, but you just can't fit it in. Just think of the power you could have if only you could do a headstand or a backbend......yep, right here in Orange Beach.....another reason why you stay here....."

8. shirley - October 6, 2008 @ 6:03 PM

"We have been unable to visit the Gulf this year while we are building a home on Shoals Creek in North Alabama. We have many memories of Wolf Bay with the family picture always taken on that pier. The food is always consistantly good. Gumbo, soft shell crab, and French Silk pie..UMMMMM good! Our first visit was in 1980 after Hurrican Fredrick. Friends we were visiting in Birmingham mentioned going on a quick trip. We decided at midnight to do this with little money, but a rush of adrenaline embarking on an unplanned adventure. They let us borrow 100 dollars and we piled into their compact Sentra with 3 kids and 4 adults. Uncomfortable to say the least with little air flow with so many bodies. Restless kids threatened our sanity, but we were young and would have not missed going. I do not think we anticipated the storm damage. The state park was erriely deserted and drapes blew in the wind out the windowless rooms of the condos. The lighthouse to the Lighthouse Motel was still there and in recent years I watched it removed as new condominiums were built. For us it is our ultimate in relaxation to visit Gulf Shores."

9. Jeanne - October 6, 2008 @ 6:09 PM

"Well, that sure makes sense to me! I feel the same about the beautiful, yet rainy today, Pacific Northwest. We have our family, friends and memories here and that is what makes it home.

Another great blog Andy."

10. Jim Skelton - October 6, 2008 @ 6:29 PM

"Andy,

From having known you most of your life, and knowing your values, I am not surprised with the answers you have given to living (still) where you live. Home, in my opinion, has never been overrated. In this day and time, with the world getting smaller and smaller, we can get to anyplace within a few hours. So, it really does not matter where we live, from a business standpoint. So, enjoy your moments "at home", continuing to get acquainted with those that all of us will be "at home" with someday."

11. martha green - October 6, 2008 @ 7:01 PM

"andy, I love this piece about your home, friends, neighborhood. I forwarded it to my sister who lives in Navarre--she lost a beautiful beach home to Opal, re-built, lost another in the next hurricane, re-built, sold, built on the bay (inland) just becuse she loves the area. Bless you ! I live in Dothan, still, and remember all yur family with love. Our eldest daughter, Becky, took piano lessons from your beautiful mother !!!"

12. dduncan - October 6, 2008 @ 7:30 PM

"Thanks again Andy

When all is said and done...it is a matter of the heart. When you feel it is a place God has planted you...then it is a good place to grow!

Thanks for sending refreshing reading my way...in today's happenings, it truly is a blessing."

13. dduncan - October 6, 2008 @ 7:38 PM

"Andy...a PS to my recent comment. I just noticed the recommended books on your site...All things Lincoln and Civil War History is a passion. Just ordered and received the 48 DVD Lecture Series on the American Civil War from 'The Great Courses'. Anxious to get into them. I have read 'The Man and His Faith', but not the other one...will place it on my list. Thanks again!"

14. Marianne - October 6, 2008 @ 8:08 PM

"Spoken so honestly and heart felt.
And that's why I read your blogs Andy. They always touch my heart and bring back to that warm place, where I remember my Blessings.
There's no place Home..no matter where our Hearts take us..."

15. Henry Minnema - October 6, 2008 @ 8:13 PM

"I never doubted why you live there. You only wrote about the small percentage of the time nature makes you question your location.
Frankly, you have a more legitimate case on why we live in Michigan...we keel over shoveling snow here as well."

16. Tom - October 6, 2008 @ 8:54 PM

"Clamu, Flicka, Ed?!? Andy...you have some very clever boys there. As for why we live here....I spent the first 39 years of my life in Dallas, Fort Worth...when a job transfer moved me to Jacksonville Florida. I love it here Andy, and am not sorry in the least. But I must explain....Texas lives in my heart... and in my son. I just brought it with me. Texas goes with me wherever I go. But I did have to get my two kittens from the local shelter.
Thanks for sharing ...you touch hearts."

17. jan burch - October 6, 2008 @ 9:32 PM

"Right on. Ivan and 4 evacuations sent us inland 8 miles but we STILL miss the beach. And now y'all have an honest govt. - or will have after Nov. 3rd. I'm waiting on your next book - when does it come out? You can't write them fast enough for me.
I love you "guys" - meaning you, Polly, Adam and Austin!! Don't ever move!!! jan burch"

18. Frances - October 6, 2008 @ 9:34 PM

"Andy,
I don't live there, but love to vacation there. Even made a point to go to Wolf Bay Lodge after reading about it in The Island of Saints - loved it too - thanks for the suggestion. It's so beautiful and as you said - the seafood is amazing! I don't like shrimp up here (in Pennsylvania) any more after having it the day it is caught down at Tacky Jacks and Wolf Bay Lodge!"

19. Rhonda - October 6, 2008 @ 10:31 PM

"Love our "home" here on the Northshore of Lake Ponchartrain. We stay for all the same reasons you do. (Been here over 50 years - "born and raised" as they say.) However, there are days when we wish for the days before the "come hithers" moved up here after the storms. Our little nest began to change...much more traffic, houses, people...we don't recognize as many people anymore. Ah well, I guess everybody has their own level of tolerance for Mother Nature!!

I'll just stay and hunker down for the next storm with the Good Book and a good book...got any new ones coming soon?"

20. carol from florida - October 6, 2008 @ 11:21 PM

"The love of my life brought me here in 1972 at the tender age of 29.We married the following year. He loved to fish and loved all things nautical.He was right at home and never looked back;me, not so much.I've been homesick for 36 years.I miss the beautiful evergreen trees that grow everywhere in N.J.I get so mad at people like late night show hosts who keep saying New Jersey is smelly, dirty and nothing but an industrial messy eyesore. Don't they know its not called the Garden State for nothing?!!! There are acres and acres of beautiful farms and fields of wildflowers as far as the eye can see.There are wonderful beaches as well as small mountains too.Great shopping malls, terrific schools and if you're in to nightlife, well there's plenty of it too! But,I am here.Here is where I'll remain and as in 1972,I will follow the love of my life ,because this is where he is buried.We're not stopping at 31 years together,we're going all the way to eternity side by side."

21. Valerie - October 6, 2008 @ 11:40 PM

"God Bless your soul Carol from Florida....your story brought a tear to my eye."

22. Allen - October 7, 2008 @ 12:58 AM

"Hey Andy,
You didn't mention the #2 in the nation U of Alabama Tide?
Oh well I sure can relate to your thoughts...and even more than just my home town and home state that I am proud of and am attached to it made me reflect on how glad and blessed my family and I are to live in this country!
Even during perhaps the worst economic times in almost 80 years there is no other country that we could call home.
Thanks
Allen"

23. Rudy Noll - October 7, 2008 @ 9:06 AM

"I believe that your statement, ..."Almost 90% of us have strong ties to a specific city or state" really says it all. The other justifications are simply the reasons why. Why do I say this? Because I am a retired Army officer, who was also an Army brat. Therefore, for most of my life, "home" was wherever my father -then me- happened to be stationed (except my tours in Vietnam; it never felt like home at all). However, my father was stationed at Ft. McClellan, Alabama twice before I started college (at Jacksonville State University). As a result, slowly, and almost inperceptibly, I began growing roots. In 1982, I found
out that my final assignment prior to my military retirement was - now here comes the Butterfly Effect - Ft. Mclellan, Alabama! I served my final three years at Ft. McClellan, then retired in the Anniston - Oxford area. I made many good friends, beame involved in community activities, relished bass and crappie fishing, and playing golf on the Robert Trent Jones Trail. I lived there until 2003, when my job at Honeywell was eliminated, and my wife and unfortunately divorced (I wish I had met Andy before then). I moved to Tampa, Florida, and still live there. Tampa Bay is a great area for many of the reasons Andy mentioned. But there is something missing. I guess it is best expressed in the Neil Diamond song, "I am, I said". There is a part in the refrain that goes, "LA's fine but it's not mine - New York's mine, but it ain't home no more..." I think that says it all for me. Those roots that started growing during my childhood years in Alabama became my real "tap roots". Now, I miss Alabama down deep inside where all of our most sensitive feelings lie. Of course, I am Tampa's #1 Crimson Tide fan, and I read the Birmingham News and Anniston Star online just to stay in touch in some manner with my roots. Yes, Andy, it is true that almost 90% of us have strong ties to a specific city or state. I hope I just showed you the real reason why."

24. Patsy Rose - October 7, 2008 @ 1:21 PM

"Orange Beach Public Library is the most kid and famiy friendly library in the country! That is why I live here!"

25. Butch Jeffries - October 7, 2008 @ 1:58 PM

"Thanks for the trip down memory lane Andy. I spent many years living in the best kept secret in the country, Alabama's redneck riviera. It's one of the greatest places on earth. This football season I can still hear the Foley HS cheerleaders chanting "All my life I wanted to be a LION, work, work baby, work, work." I remembered that cheer fondly this week as I took my son to the local HS rivalry and then watched Julio Jones on TV Saturday. The Eastern Shore Jubilees (That no one north of I-10 believes when you tell them),The Flora Bama and Judge Roy Beans provided many hours of fun and friendship. I am proud to call the University of South Alabama my Alma Mater. Many friends,I recognize some of those names, and lots of memeories are what I have now.
It's interesting how I now call home a very quaint Chicago suburb called Naperville, IL. Many magazines rate it as one of the top places to live in our great country. It has a great HS football rivalry. This past week the defending state 8A champion Naperville North Huskies defeated the Naperville Central RedHawks. But the game wasn't deecided until late in the 4th qtr. The Chicago stations proclaimed it the game of the week and they even have to play it at a local college stadium to hold the crowd. Oh, the memories of those Lions taking on the Pirates from Fairhope. (Daphne didn't have a HS back then.)
The values I learned back then that I try and instill in my son today. "All my life I want to be a Husky, work, work, baby work, work." My family is here now so this is where I belong. But the values I learned growing up around Wolf Bay Lodge and Safe Harbor Marina will always stay with me. You are absolutely right about the fresh fish, so I traded the boat for an RV. I traded the beaches for the tundra. But one thing is constant. We live in a beautiful, magnificent country. My son will grow up and call this home. Grandpa and Uncle J will always bring home a deer, and we will celebrate when he gets his first deer, his first Salmon, just like we did down home when I was growing up on Alabama's beautiful gulf coast. My ringtone on my phone also allows me a little nostalgia. Everytime someone from "down home" calls, my phone plays that great Alabama tune, "My Home's in Alabama, no matter where I lay my head, my home's in Alabama, southern born and southern bred. So while 90% do have solid ties some of us are lucky enough to keep some of those ties and even start new ones in a new place with new people.
Thanks so much Andy for the inspiration you provide me and my family."

26. Bon in 'Bama - October 7, 2008 @ 2:13 PM

"Andy Pandy: Another great blog. I sure hope to see this pubished in a future Sunday "Mobile Press-Register"...

People just don't "get it"...why we stay. However, your blog is the best explanation I've ever read on the topic.

However, your explanation also brings up a baffling question...when does this man WRITE? :-)

Surely, Andy Andrews is "Father of the Year."

Bon in Atmore"

27. Bob Woodall - October 7, 2008 @ 3:12 PM

"Andy, I grew up with you and as you remember we got baptised on the same day at First Baptist Dothan. I enjoyed reading about "why we still live here". I have never replyed to a blog before but I guess there is always a first. Keep up the good work and I hope you continue to have much success. Bob Woodall"

28. Marion from Dauphin Island - October 8, 2008 @ 9:21 AM

"Such a refreshing take on coastal living after all the diatribes launched against us who choose to exercise the freedom of the USA and live where we please. The anti-coastal forces are gaining ears, especially after the destruction in Texas.

I find it so disturbing that no one in political office or even in effected businesses realize the value of Alabama's barrier islands to protect the mainland, Mobile Bay, the Mobile Ship Channel/State Docks (the main artery for Alabama shipping, intercoastal waterway and downtown Mobile business districts from the storms of the past and future.

The costs to rebuild and strengthen Baldwin and Mobile countie's barrier island "speed bumps" is negligible to the cost from the destruction and lost production days if these barriers are allowed to wash away as Dauphin Island has been allowed to.

Please keep up you erudite commentary on this region."

29. Annette - October 8, 2008 @ 11:45 AM

"I grew up in the same town as your Dad. In fact, we grew up at the same time. My regret is that my grandchildren will never knew the freedom of growing up in a town where they could walk to the movies at night, play in the creek, listen to the chimes from the church, or smell the sweeping compound in the halls of that old school(it is gone now), But they are making memories of their own."

30. Larry Grossman - October 8, 2008 @ 12:40 PM

"Thanks for your presentation at Keystone yesterday...
I've got some news for you Andy, your a canary, not a puppy dawg.
Cheers.

http://eaglerealestateblog.blogspot.com/

LG"

31. Becky - October 8, 2008 @ 1:55 PM

"Andy, thank you for speaking from your heart, for believing in people, for loving life, for sharing a great blog!

A positive attitude is a choice, and no matter how "things" are economically, politically, financially, always 80% of anything (relationships, health, finances, job) is good, and that's what we need to focus on.

Got another book coming out soon ...... I'm ready! You're my favorite!

Blessings and gratitude,
Becky"

32. Frances Tindell - October 8, 2008 @ 5:49 PM

"Even though I am a widow and my children live in N.Y. City and California, my No. l reason for still living here is because of my church and my wonderful church friends as well as great friends from other churches. I came to Dothan as a bride in 1945 and have never wanted to leave. We have it all !

I remember you, Andy, when I was your librarian at Girard Jr. High. You were such nice students -- the worst things you did was getting out of line or chewing gum!

The best to you and your family. I'm happy to be back in touch with you."

33. Kyle & John - October 9, 2008 @ 10:54 PM

"Andy.....easy on the Minnesota comments...LOL! Of course,as you well know, we are "snowbird wannabees" and wouldn't want to spend our wintery months anywhere else. It's not only the beautiful beach and weather...it is because of the wonderful people as you mentioned. Among four of the greatest are Andy, Polly, Austin and Adam....we hope to see you in November....and see your aquarium and go for another keelboat ride! Hugs to all! Great blog, Andy! K&J"

34. Shelby Tidwell - October 12, 2008 @ 2:58 PM

"I am young, going to be 25 in November, and I live on my own in an apartment in Austin, Texas. I haven't lived here long, but I have lived on my own for several years now. I moved here in April, out of Tornado Land and into Hurrican Land. It isn't really a dangerzone like on the coast, but we still get wet. I live here because my Mom and (Step)Dad live within 10 minutes and for me, home is family. I do have 2 cats as well, and they are my babies. I am not in a relationship at this point and I have a good job, but what is important to me are right here in my lap, and 10 minutes away. I may not have the strong ties to a particular place, but I do have a strong sense of 'home' and I hope everyone has that, no matter where or what it is."

35. Renee Badertscher - October 12, 2008 @ 10:31 PM

"Every once in awhile when I see a house for sale I give it a nano-second of thought. But, of course, one house won't do. I'd need three. My current neighbors are "family" and if I can't take them with me, I'm not going. My church is celebrating its 175th anniversary--and I do mean celebrating. I've been a member for 30 of those years and I'm not leaving that "family" either. Though the small town we used to be has seen the "progress" of more chain stores and population and is beginning to feel a bit busy, there is always the respite of a trip "up North", as we call the Upper Penninsula here in Michigan. We have four Seasons to give us something to complain about year round and keep us in wonderment at the variation that Nature is capable of in twelve months, including tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms (beautiful, by the way), heat waves, biting insects, and rivers that overflow their banks. I've traveled all 50 states and visited three continents. But this is home and this is where I'll stay."

36. Dana Malave - October 15, 2008 @ 8:37 AM

"Andy ,
After listening to you talk the last 2 days , I realize that home for me isn't where I want to raise my kids. I want to create that memory that you share. I don't have those same great history ties with town. Altought I just transfered my kids to my elementry school . We eat at the pizzeria for lunch where the son now runs it. I think I am ready to let go and start better memories for my kids. I have had a crazy childhood. I want my kids to create new footstep and not exactly follow in mine. For me it is all about breaking the cycle of my life and giving them a better oppurtunity. I expect from myself to give them a home that they will want their children not to leave. They will want their kids to have those same memories that my husband and I have given them."

37. JP - October 15, 2008 @ 5:17 PM

"Andy,
You are truly awesome. I heard you speak in the Bahamas at our conference you are absolutely amazing. Then I had the opportunity to meet you on a shuttle bus later that night with another couple my wife and I were with. It was great to talk to you and Polly. Thanks for the pictures!!!"

38. Tom Powell - October 21, 2008 @ 12:52 PM

"Home is where the heart is and something about our hometown always hangs onto a special part of our hearts. Not only do I live in my hometown today but I bought the house I grew up in from my Dad. I have had the pleasure these last five years of watching my kids play in the home and yard of my youth. But Andy Andrews has had his hand in changing everything, read on...

Today is a new and adventurous day. I made a choice to use my life to make a difference. I have been doing personal ministry work in the inner city of Atlanta for years. I go to work everyday and spend my evenings and weekends serving the last, the lost and the least. These past months I have made a unique transition to bring my personal expertise and my ministry work together into a new Social Enterprise.

In the next sixty days my family will be moving to Ghana, West Africa. We will be building beautiful homes for very low-income earners. Bringing home ownership and real wealth creation opportunities to the poor. Ghana is only the starting place. We plan to spread this social enterprise all over the world. The 'Choice' is no longer 'Lost.'

Thanks Andy, you are an inspiration. Perhaps one day we will meet and I can share some truly amazing stories with you, many of them inspired by your work."

39. Rick - October 23, 2008 @ 2:51 AM

"Your insight into life and the personal connections you make to your community of frineds and neighbors says alot about who you are. Man's work is to be an enabler, to facilitate others in their journey, to be a friend and provide that contrast to others. It's the butterfly effect put into practice. Home is where we choose to set up our practice - where we feel most empowered to love and be loved. It doesn't need to make sense to those around us - but to those who you touch, it makes perfect sense! Thanks Andy for all that you are, all that you do and most importantly, all that you inspire others to be."

40. Frances - October 23, 2008 @ 10:28 AM

"There is something comforting being surrounded with the firmilarity of the past, and those treasured memories of our youth. I love where I live close to my family and friends and raising my son in way that I am proud."