Meet The Jerkins Family

This month, Stroll the Georgia Club spotlights the Jerkins family. For the Jerkins family, life in Five Points is a comfortable mix of family routines, neighborhood walks, busy weekdays and the small moments that come with raising two young daughters in one of Athens’ most familiar communities.

With its tree-lined streets, historic homes and easy access to parks, schools, restaurants and the University of Georgia, Five Points has become a natural backdrop for this chapter of their family’s life. On any given afternoon, the Jerkins might be heading out for a walk, stopping somewhere for a treat or simply spending time together at home while their two little girls turn an ordinary day into something a little more entertaining.

Like many families with young children, their days rarely follow a perfectly organized schedule. Mornings can be a blur of breakfast, shoes, backpacks and last-minute searches for something that was sitting in plain sight five minutes earlier. Evenings bring dinner, baths, books and bedtime—at least in theory. Somewhere in between are the moments the Jerkins enjoy most.

Living in Five Points makes it easy to get outside and be part of the neighborhood. The family enjoys being able to walk through the area, visit nearby parks and take advantage of the many places that make Athens feel like a small town tucked inside a growing city. Their daughters are still at the age when a simple outing can feel like an adventure. A walk through the neighborhood might involve collecting leaves, spotting dogs, examining flowers or stopping every few feet to investigate something adults would normally pass without a second thought.

For their parents, seeing Five Points through the girls’ eyes has made familiar surroundings feel new again. The neighborhood offers plenty of opportunities for spontaneous family time. Some days might mean an afternoon at Memorial Park, where there is room to explore, play and burn off some energy. Other days could include a casual meal nearby, a trip for ice cream or a walk through the neighborhood before heading home.

Of course, with two little girls in the house, home itself is rarely quiet. The Jerkins home is filled with the usual signs of young family life—children’s artwork, toys that seem to multiply overnight and evidence of whatever activity has captured the girls’ attention that week. One day it may be coloring and crafts. The next, the living room might become a stage, a school, a restaurant or an elaborate imaginary world that makes perfect sense to everyone under the age of ten.

The sisters have their own personalities, interests and opinions, but like most siblings, they are also learning the art of sharing space, toys and parental attention. They can be each other’s best playmate one minute and deeply offended over who got the preferred cup at breakfast the next. It is all part of the season the Jerkins are in now—a busy, funny and fleeting stage of family life.

Weekends give them a little more time to slow down. Athens provides no shortage of possibilities for families, whether that means attending a community event, visiting the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, spending time downtown or enjoying one of the many activities connected to UGA.

During football season, the energy surrounding the university becomes part of the rhythm of the neighborhood. Even families who are not heading into Sanford Stadium can feel the excitement as Athens fills with visitors and red and black appear everywhere.

One of the things the Jerkins appreciate about Five Points is that they can enjoy the activity of Athens while still returning to a neighborhood that feels residential and established. There is also something reassuring about living in a place where neighbors recognize one another.

As their girls grow, the Jerkins hope those neighborhood connections will become an important part of their childhood memories—the familiar houses along their street, friends nearby, favorite places to visit and the feeling of knowing where home is. For now, family traditions are still being created.

Some will happen intentionally, while others will probably begin by accident. A favorite Saturday breakfast may become something the girls expect every weekend. A particular holiday activity could turn into an annual tradition. A regular walk, restaurant or family outing may someday be remembered as one of the defining routines of their childhood. Those are often the memories that last.

The biggest moments in family life tend to get photographed and celebrated, but much of childhood is built from smaller things: sitting together at the dinner table, walking around the block, bedtime stories, conversations in the car and ordinary evenings at home. The Jerkins family is right in the middle of those years.

There will be plenty of changes ahead as their daughters grow older. School schedules will become busier, interests will change and the girls will gradually become more independent. For now, however, life revolves around two little girls who bring plenty of personality, energy and laughter into the house.

Five Points provides a fitting place for them to grow up.

It is close enough to the heart of Athens to feel connected to everything happening around town, yet it retains the neighborhood atmosphere that has attracted generations of families. Sidewalks, parks, familiar businesses and longtime residents give the area a sense of continuity even as Athens continues to change.

For the Jerkins, home is less about any one house, street or landmark than the life they are building together. It is two sisters growing up side by side. It is family dinners and neighborhood walks. It is busy mornings, bedtime stories and weekends spent exploring Athens. It is watching their daughters discover the world around them while their parents try to remember just how quickly these years pass.

And for this young Five Points family, that may be the best part of the story: they are still writing it.