Arturo Paulino Blog

The situation couldn’t have been any more tragic — a car accident in the middle of the nigh leading to a young and vibrant college student’s funeral visitation, and the pain of a family close to ours.  After many tears and much pain, this was the news that propelled Tracy and I to the decision to fly back to Georgia for a day only.

At first we weren’t sure if this would work out.  I had to work, Tracy would need to stay with the kids, and our budget is pretty tight.   Nonetheless Tracy and I knew this was the right thing to do, and I managed to book the second flight out of FLL to ATL and even to rent a Hyundai Accent for the day

The plan was simple — arrive to Atlanta by 9am, pick up the car, drive into Dublin, go to the visitation and head back to Florida.  Of course I knew in the back of my head this trip couldn’t be so fast and dry… and I was right.  First of all, and in spite of all the construction still taking place on i-16, I found myself extremely content and happy as I was driving into Dublin from the Cochran exit.  Next I had the chance to have an early lunch with my good friend Ben Beall at the local Subway at the Mall.  While Ben and I were chatting and catching up, Robert Wood (Pine Forest former Youth Director) crashed the party and a few minutes later Hanna Holley joined us for a fun little time at Subway.

Next was visiting my home church, Dublin First United Methodist Church.  As I drove into the parking lot, from Stubbs Park, I quickly realized we now have clear one-way driving lines and of course I was driving in the opposite direction (kinda felt like old times). Walking into church I had the chance to meet our new pastor, Rev. Thad Haygood, and our new custodian Clint.  Right after that it was time to go to towncenter aka. Chick-fil-A to meet up with the Hobbs and Morans! It most definitely felt like old times as we chatted about life and God, while also enjoying seeing familiar faces through the drive-thru like Amanda Wicker – who I had the chance to quickly chat with and share a laugh or two.

Right after Chick-fil-A the next stop was at the iconic BlackBird Coffee to meet Jeff Balance.  Man o man, I wouldn’t have traded that conversation for anything.  Next up was my brother Daniel Lleras and Laura Bedingfield.  Again, great time chatting and catching up.  After our meeting I decided to visit, unannounced, Kathy Jones at work, and as I was pulling onto The Sheridan’s road I thought I saw a gray Nissan Altima driving out so I decided to chase it all they way on Business 441 until realizing later on Mrs. Kathy was not driving that car!After chasing the wrong Altima I was running a few minutes behind to see my good friend Clay Carroll.  When we finally met up I once again had the opportunity to partake in another fulfilling and wholesome conversation.

As Clay was driving out, it was time to fulfill the real reason for my visit.   As I entered Townsend Funeral Home there were no words to describe what was transpiring as a line of easily over 300 folks poured in for the visitation.  The beauty of this town is that these people weren’t just ‘folks’ but supporters.  Hundreds of people felt the pain of this one family, and decided to attend and be present at their time of sorrow. People of all walks of life, without answers, just regular folks wanting nothing more than show support and solidarity.  Just like me.

Right before hitting the road back to the airport, I was able to manage a quick coffee with Mark Edens at Starbucks inside Kroger. I couldn’t pick a better way to finish my eight hour marathon in Dublin but over a cup of coffee, prayers, dreaming and laughing.

At the end of the day I left Dublin with less than two hours to make a 2 1/2 trip to Atlanta Airport.  In the midst of more I-16 constructions and an unceasing rain, I kept thinking about those I had the chance to sit and chat with, and those I saw in passing, the Luttrell’s, Turner, the Garner’s, Tiffany B., and the Allgood’s.  It was indeed an intense day, but at the end it felt good to my soul to reconnect with folks, to cry with friends, and to be a part of a great community.

- arturo