The Good Life of Georgia

By Gail Lester

Click here to view this article on its page of The Good Life.

I’ve been thinking about connections…

The dictionary defines connection as a meeting point or link.

How did Lane and I ever connect with The Good Life?

Well, you might say it started 13 years ago April 1st , when we moved from Lynchburg, Virginia, to the community of Neese in Madison County, Georgia. We had come for Lane to teach biology at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs.

As I look back, I see it as a providential move for many reasons. One important reason was family. My mother lived here with my brother and his family in the Sanford Community of Madison County. She was suffering with the progressive disease of emphysema and was beginning to require more care. She progressed to being on oxygen at home as well as when she went out, and most of the time when she went out, I was her driver. Regularly on our schedule each week was a visit to Marie Fowler at Shear Magic for a shampoo and set. Now, you might wonder how Mom connected with Marie.

Well, my brother Joe Jones and  his wife Connie bought the  U. S. Woody Place on Highway 174. Their sons, Jeff and Michael, were born while they lived there.  Marie’s Shear Magic was just down the road and so convenient for hair cuts. Mom started going to Marie for all her hair needs and continued on when Joe and Connie moved to Sanford Community. And of course, since I took Mom, I started getting my hair done by Marie. It was also very convenient for Lane to stop by Marie’s for a haircut on his way home from Emmanuel.

Mom succumbed to her illness in March of 2000. I’m grateful I lived so close to her the last five years of her life.

Lane and I now have a Comer address, and we still go to Marie, who has become a dear friend. We shared her excitement when she and Mike decided to publish The Good Life, and her regret at having to give it up. We have enjoyed this little newspaper and feel that the timing is right for us to try our hand at publishing. We don’t have the lifelong connections that Marie and Mike have with this area, but it has become home to us. We are looking forward to continuing the encouraging and informative message of The Good Life to the surrounding counties in our area of North Georgia.