3 min read
Jodi and Charlie Burson had lived in the same Atlanta home for 34 years. They had careers, neighbors they loved, and deep connections.
But over time, they were, as Jodi puts it, "staying in our house out of habit rather than a passion for being there anymore."
When their daughter settled in Birmingham's Liberty Park community with her husband and their first child, Jodi and Charlie sought a new passion — and a new community.
Leaving Atlanta
For most of her career, Jodi served as Director of Marketing at Big Green Egg. She spent 21 years in a role that kept her on the road while Charlie held things together at home. When they both retired, the pace of their life slowed, and they didn’t know what to fill it with.
Their longtime Atlanta friends were retiring and dispersing — to the mountains, the beach, or to out-of-state golf communities.
As they spent more time in Birmingham visiting family, the city started to make a case for itself. The restaurants were fantastic. The pace suited them. People were friendly.
When Jodi started researching neighborhoods in earnest, she came across Greystone and quickly realized it had everything they were looking for in one place.
“We could be here and basically have everything we wanted,” she told Charlie.
The more they visited, the longer they wanted to stay. “We drove that two and a half hours a lot of times and said, ‘What? This is crazy. Why are we not living there?’”
When the Decision Became Easy
The Greystone community impressed Jodi and Charlie, and the golf course sealed the deal.
“When we played golf here for the first time, Charlie and I were both approached separately by other golfers who came up and said, ‘You need to start playing with us,’” Jodi remembers. “That meant the world to us. We knew we would feel embraced and encouraged to join different activities.”
She was blown away by how welcomed she felt on her first visit.
“Starting fresh after you've retired is daunting,' she says. 'But we're so glad we did it, and we've never looked back.”
A Community Ready to Welcome
Once they joined, Greystone made the transition easy.
"When we joined the new member orientation and welcome parties, we already had a group of friends because the Club does such a good job of integrating you with other people who are new," Jodi says.
Members invited them into existing groups. Jodi was already eating at the restaurants more than she had at their previous club. Living inside the gates changed their lives entirely.
Take the Leap
Jodi says the decision wasn’t easy right away. They’d spent 34 years in one home, one city, and one community. She and Charlie talked about it long enough that, she says, they probably drove their friends and family a little crazy.
But once they visited and felt what Greystone was able to offer them, they were sold.
"We talked about waiting ten years," she says, "and we thought, "Why don't we just move now? Make new friends, play the golf courses, eat at the restaurants, become part of the community." We wanted to do that now."
If you’re thinking about making the big move, Jodi says, "Take the time and opportunity to come and visit and feel the warmth and the welcome that you'll get at Greystone," she says. "Be prepared that you're probably going to really fall in love with it, just like we did."
