Leslie Bridges

Do we every truly know who we are? Life is a mystery that uncovers clues everyday. I can tell you a little of what I know so far. Twenty-six years ago, I started my journey in Stone Mountain, Georgia to where I recently ventured to a smaller town of Gray, Georgia with my husband of three years. You could say we have a big family, no children yet, but we do have five dogs and one lazy cat. We meet six years ago on the internet, if you can believe that. The forty-five minute drive that separated us became a true test of our love when we would sit in traffic on I-285 in rush hour to see each other. It was worth it though! Once married we decided to move closer to Milledgeville, so my husband could pursue his career opportunity and passion as an Outboard Marine Engine Technician. Currently as an insurance agent, I have been sucked into the abyss known as GEICO for the past three years. Some people define themselves with their careers, hobbies, social statues or even their families. I do not think that one given thing sums up who we are. Things I like to do can be reading, photography, antiquing, and sometimes-outdoor activities with my husband (if I am dragged along). Seriously, I do enjoy the outdoors, for different reasons than my husband though. He may enjoy sitting in a tree stand waiting for that big buck to come along, but I enjoy the calmness and escape from reality with a good book in the tree stand. Here is some irony for you. My earliest memory of “What I want to be when I grow up” was in the fifth grade. Math was my strongest subject and still is to this day. Therefore, I decided that I wanted to become an accountant. The worst job I could imagine in my eleven-year-old mind was teaching! Who in their right mind would want to put up with these bad kids everyday and were paid lousy! I thought teaching would be an unrewarding career due to the way we treated teachers. These thoughts only got worse the further I went in my education. Just these past few years has my opinion be changed. With more passion than I have felt for anything else in my life, teaching brings out an excitement and enthusiasm in me. How crazy is life that the one thing that I though I would die if I had to do, now I would die regretting never had the opportunity to do it. Even though this is just a taste of “Who I am”, everyday brings more exploration and gets me closer to the mystery of life.