Scenes From My Life

Growing up, my extended family was spread across the southern United States. Every summer, my parents would load my brothers and me in the car to visit these far-flung relatives. We would be gone for weeks at a time, driving hundreds of miles across the American south. At times, it seemed like I had been in the car for an interminable amount of time. However, on the drive back to Atlanta, there was always one clear clue that announced that I was nearly home: the Atlanta skyline. Full of office buildings, hotels and sports facilities, the Atlanta skyline is a study in change. The skyline has grown as the city has expanded. Few of its earliest markers, symbols of the city’s future as a metropolitan center, still stand. Those that have remained are now dwarfed by newer, more modern edifices. Whether returning from a weeks-long vacation or a mere day trip, spotting the Atlanta skyline meant that I was nearly home. Over the years, skylines have he