Editor’s Note: As Atlanta Intown turns 30, we bid farewell to longtime TimmyDaddy/May I Be Excused columnist Tim Sullivan, who has kept us laughing for 15 years. Thank you, Tim.
Kristen, Elliott, and I had a great day visiting Georgia College in Milledgeville. On the ride home my usually nonplussed, High School Senior said, “That was actually kinda fun.” Clearly, he never expected it to be but saying so told us this was a positive experience. Searching for a college with a 17-year-old is a journey where sometimes we engage in very grown-up conversations with this bright, opinionated man-child. Then other times we’re begging him to contact a teacher for a recommendation while he seems to be seeking re-entry to the womb.
We were racing home for Margo’s 15th birthday dinner because she was already annoyed that we spent most of her day exploring a place where Elliott might spend the next four years of his life. We were heading to the Olive Garden because Margo saw something about it on TikTok a while back and even after three visits, the shine still hasn’t worn off.
For the uninitiated, Olive Garden is the home of the never-ending pasta, soups, salads, and breadsticks. The ambiance evokes Italia via Dunwoody, and the aroma is as if you are trapped in a canister of Parmesan cheese. Once home from Milledgeville we scooped up Margo and friends in Decatur and braved I-285 for our big night out.
As we waited for our table I asked the girls if they were going to opt for something that is never-ending or something that has an end. They didn’t react at all, but the beauty of dad jokes is they don’t have to be very good. It’s like a superpower. The breadsticks arrived and we ate them promptly. More arrived and we started munching on those too while noting these are more like small loaves of bread than they are sticks. Postscript: Our to-go boxes fed us for the next two days.
For dessert, servers emerged from every corner of the restaurant to sing Happy Birthday to Margo. Other patrons joined in too so to show my gratitude I offered them breadsticks. After the singing was done, I offhandedly said “Well, that was extravagant” and Margo’s friend Piper laughed so hard she nearly lost her never-ending soup. I’m sure wittier things were said over the course of the evening but being unintentionally funny is just another realm of middle age, I guess.
Middle age…sounds wild. Like this publication, I too burst on the scene thirty years ago. A college buddy and I rolled into Buckhead from New York in an older model Toyota Camry wagon. As we toasted our new city at the Three Dollar Café I thought—this is going to be good. Atlanta took me in, and I don’t recall ever feeling any pull to leave.
Years went by. I married Kristen and we had Elliott and Margo. My brother Bill and I opened a business and life seemed to speed up. I started writing things down, just to remember, just to reflect and if possible, to slow things down. I suppose two out of those three isn’t terrible. Then fifteen years ago, my friend Tony introduced me to Wendy Binns saying, “You should totally hire Tim to write for your paper.” I mean, with an endorsement like that, how could she not give me my own column? It was an exciting time, and I remember again thinking–this was going to be good.
Indeed, it has been and now all of a sudden, this is my last piece. I’m forever grateful to Atlanta Intown/Rough Draft publishers Wendy, Steve and Keith for accommodating me as I scratched this writerly itch. And amidst his many duties, Editor-in-Chief Collin Kelley has skillfully shepherded me along with patience and grace.
As I’m sure you can tell; I love Kristen, Elliott, and Margo to the moon and back. It is because of all these people that I have been able to communicate, commiserate and share these stories with you. I have that library of reflections now and through all the drafts and editing and deadlines, I think I’m a better writer too.
Mostly though, I have appreciated your readership. Writing is cathartic and clarifying for me but sharing with others makes it more rewarding. While I summoned stories from the people and events of my life, I hope these essays were relatable. That was, at least, always my intent.
I used to worry that I’d run out of topics but like those never-ending breadsticks, the ideas keep coming. So, while I will miss this space terribly, I have a feeling this too is going to be good. My kids promised to teach me how to properly use Instagram so if you’d like to keep up with my musings, I’d love for you to follow me @timmydaddyatl. I hope you’ll come along, and I’ll see you around town.
INTOWN @ 30: Read more features from Atlanta Intown’s 30 anniversary issue here.
