Deviating from the intended purpose of this blog, I wanted to take a brief moment to personally introduce myself in the "first person."
My name is Patrick Wheale, and both providence and fate has prodded my steps down this path to this wonderful community. Unlike the large families and long heritages I've grown to admire locally, my family traditions are more nomadic and scattered.
I was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia to parents who were transplants themselves. When I became an adult (atleast legally) and in keeping with the family tradition, I had scarcely called any city home for long. After four years of undergraduate studies at military college, I was released in to a world that was about to be marred by the Great Recession. In the following years, I spent months working construction in the North Carolina mountains; months as a marketing representative in California's sierra nevada; years delivering pizza and waiting tables along the Pacific Northwest as well as South Carolina coasts; and even more time serving as both volunteer and employee in several nonprofit organizations along the way. The years of carrying multiple jobs and working from paycheck-to-paycheck took their toll until I was offered a scholarship to attend law school. I jumped at the opportunity that so few are afforded.
At this point in my life story is when fate made his presence known in the form of divine intervention. While in law school, I met the first and only woman I've ever truly loved, the former Laura Lundy, and we were married. From then on, all of my best-laid plans have thoroughly gone awry, and I've never been more grateful.
Like most of you, my wife is part of a family ingrained in the local heritage and small-town lore. I've come to realize my wife's virtues and grace are as much the product of nurture as much of nature, and that this community has played more than a small role in that. After nearly six years of working tirelessly at two high-powered, Atlanta law firms, my wife and I decided to pursue something more by moving back to the area, plant our roots, and ingratiate ourselves in a community that shares our values. I am excited about our future and making a difference in the ways that we can.
I look forward to meeting you personally some day. My door is always open, and I hope you will come by.