Long Distance: Ari Ellerbe Mathé

HERE: LSU student, member of the Louisiana Bar Association

THERE: Assistant public defender, chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Young Lawyers Division Juvenile Law Committee

Why did you leave Baton Rouge?

In August 2004 I married my LSU sweetheart, Chet Mathé of Slidell, who began working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta after completing his masters at LSU. Since the federal government callously refused to move the CDC to Baton Rouge so I could be near my mom and dad, I had to move to Atlanta to be near my husband!

When were you last in Baton Rouge?

Thanksgiving.

What do you miss?

LSU football games in Tiger Stadium, running around the LSU lakes, my mom’s gumbo (I’m working on my own, but it’s just not the same), CC’s king cake latte (Starbucks just ain’t cutting it), not having every road named “Peachtree,” and feeling like I know everyone and everyone knows me.

What don’t you miss?

Construction on College Drive, indicted politicians, a lack of four distinct seasons (and I don’t mean deer, duck, dove and turkey).

What’s essential when you return?

Watching ESPN Game Day with my dad over a cup of coffee; grocery shopping with my mom; a drive through LSU campus, especially the lakes and sorority row; DeAngelo’s sensation salad and parmesan penne pasta.