I stare at Boden in wonder and amazement, much the same way one might watch a musical or ballet. My hundreds of unsolicited kisses day after day are an annoyance to him. My whiskers on his cheek cannot be pleasant. I whisper "I love you" as I hold him; his only response is to point at the thing he is most interested in at that moment.
For me to act this way with anyone other than my 1-year old son would be completely inappropriate. Every day I think my love could not be any bigger, and every day my love grows more and more. He is growing so fast, I beg him to stop. Sleep deprivation and all, I am in heaven.
Raising my son in Pettaway has been amazing. The friendships we have made with our neighbors cannot be bought: from taking care of our home or pets while we are gone to watching our son if my wife and I need a date night, even the no-questions-asked care when we show up with the baby and a bag to drop him off to handle a last-minute calamity.
We share dinners in our homes, walk to SoMa together to eat breakfast at the Root, indulge in ice cream from Loblolly Creamery when it is hot, and have adult drinks at SoMa After Dark.
With weekly farmers markets, merchant-sponsored events, parades and festivals, there is always something on the Pettaway social calendar. Some are funnier than others, like the beard growing contest that most of us skip entering. But we are frequent bead throwers on floats for the annual Mardi Gras parade and tasters for the entries at the Cornbread Festival.
Our neighborhood association is thriving with new residents seemingly on the same quest for a purposeful life, surrounded by community.
I have explored outside my neighborhood, so I know other areas have their charms. We love the Heights, watching the preteens run the streets after dinner, cutting up in Le Pops; it's a beautiful and safe environment. Bentonville is covered with strollers and we love to escape to its cooler climate on hot summer weekends.
But for us, Pettaway is home. We love that anyone can afford to call Pettaway home, and love that our son is being raised in an environment that is safe, diverse and rich in culture. Our nation is starving for community and atmospheres that build social capital. In our neighborhood, those characteristics are overflowing.
When times are this good, time seems to speed up, and I begin to think long-term about what our great city might look like when my son is grown up and making decisions on his life journey.
For 12 years I have been opening our church gym to play basketball. Recently a couple of the young guys who play there were moving out of town. After praying over their new venture, we asked where they were going: One was heading to Florida to work for SpaceX and another to Texas to start school.
I asked one of them what he would do after graduating. His response bothered me: "Not come back here." Little Rock should not be a talent farm for bigger markets. When our son graduates, I want him to see all the opportunities Little Rock has to offer.
What is happening in Pettaway can happen all over Little Rock. The infrastructure is there, made up of small locally owned business communities surrounded by densely populated neighborhoods. We know this model works if we are able to maintain density. Look at Stifft Station, Hillcrest or the Heights. And how better to show the talent being raised in Little Rock that opportunity exists here but to see it growing in their own neighborhoods?
And how much easier is it to start a company in Arkansas than it is to try and start one in New York or California? I am not bashing those states, but we have a low cost of living, inexpensive labor, and affordable land and office space that other states cannot offer. If you want to make your own way, Arkansas is the best state to do it in.
My story is this story. I came to Little Rock because I did not see opportunity in my hometown of Springfield, Tenn., or my college town of Bowling Green, Ky. But I saw it here, and for a guy who did not come from nothing but did not have anything given to him, I have done really well.
As a father, I want to see Little Rock grow in a way where my son does not have any trouble seeing opportunity here. We have 17 years to figure it out.
We are a city of opportunity, rich with community presence, an international destination for conferences, and bestowed with the beauty of God-created rich outdoors.
Talent in central Arkansas does not have to go anywhere else. The rest of the United States should know that if you want to make your own way, we can help find what you're seeking.
Mike Orndorff, a home builder, moved with his family to the Pettaway neighborhood of Little Rock in 2014.
Editorial on 10/06/2019