I-65: If This Road Could Talk

Road Inspired Revelry

Post #9 of #20: I’m reflecting on twenty years of personal and professional experiences in Birmingham and beyond. Visit www.medium.com/HonestlyEd to read the full #20For20 series.

There have been very few constants in my life since I arrived in Alabama in January 1995. I departed the Greyhound station with a duffle bag over my shoulder and a glean in my eye as I headed to winter orientation as a transfer student at Alabama State University.

The duffle bag is long gone, the glean in my eye has been traded in for a pair of eyeglasses, and even the campus of my alma mater looks radically different than it did since the day I arrived. So many incredible changes, so many personal revolutions.

One thing has remained constant: I-65.

Interstate 65 is one of the longest north-south federal highways in the United States, connecting from the Gulf of Mexico in Mobile, Alabama all the way up to Gary, Indiana, right outside of Chicago. It is hard to get lost on I-65. It is ridiculously reliable, with only one major bend around Indianapolis, Indiana.

This highway has been a dependable centerline throughout my entire journey in Alabama. It has centered me when I have strayed from my life path. It has anchored me when I have been rocked by life’s storms. More…