First, some background. I was born and raised in Atlanta. Don’t go getting all excited because the Atlanta I happen to call home is in Mississippi. Population 2,647. Our motto is “Not bigger. Not Better. Just Different.â€? If you think that’s pathetic try living here.

We have schools (three), churches (two), a stoplight (flashing yellow) and a gas station with a convenience store that isn’t. Whatever you need is guaranteed to not be on the shelves. You’d have to drive over to Vegas, Alabama, about two hours east to get anything other than chips, beer and Slim Jims.

The place was the afternoon hang out for the high school crowd. A dozen or so of us in our group of regulars, including my boyfriend Wiley Hawkins, or Hawk, met there everyday for “happy hourâ€?. No booze though. We weren’t sophisticated enough for that.

There was an old Atari video game in the back though, with my initials, (LUG for Lessa Ursula Gardner), listed as the high scorer. If aliens ever came to take over, we’d be set.