Adventures
Surrendering the suburban "American Dream" and making a beeline to a downtown Memphis apartment comes with glamour, sure. It's messy, too, though. Through my adventures, I want to give you an insider's look at downtown Memphis. I'm learning a lot from the adventures I get myself into, so I figure I'll share. There's a lot to be said for this place I didn't use to love so much.
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COVID Killed My Dad, and I Can’t Even Cry about It.
On May 23rd, 2020, I got a call from a 919 area code that I didn’t have in my contacts. I was sitting on a patio with some friends, and I’d’ve usually ignored it, but that day, something was just different. “Hello?” “Is this Jennifer?” an urgent-sounding female voice asked me. “Yes, ma’am? This is she?” I asked, my confusion sounding like an identity crisis. Rustling sounds pierced the line and then a man’s voice came on. I didn’t recognize it at all, and the gasping, horror-movie raspiness of it scared me. By now, I’m pacing a downtown Memphis alleyway straining to understand what’s happening through a phone whose speaker…
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You Can’t Go That Way…
The other day, I was walking down my alley to go to the City Market around the corner, and I stopped to talk to a former student of mine (we’ll call her “M”) who’s now a member of the Blue Suede Brigade, downtown’s boots-on-the-ground safety and hospitality personnel. As she and I are celebrating her fifth day without a cigarette (good for you, chica!), this lady in a minivan drives up the alley and stops beside us. I immediately think, “But you can’t go that way.” She tells us that she wants to drive across Main Street to get on Front Street. And while continuing straight down that alley was…
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Thank you, Main…
Because Main Street Makes You Feel Beautiful Most days, I like who I see in the mirror. I mean, enough anyway. Been working on that self-worth and all. As a woman, though, I’m societally trained to tear myself apart any time I pass a reflective surface. You don’t really mean to, but there you are, trying not to criticize yourself in a passing window. Since I can’t help looking sometimes, I stare at the ground more now. Hence the pennies. So this past weekend, I was standing on Main waiting to cross Union. I’m in front of Gould’s, and there’s a woman a few years younger than I am on…
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Well, that’s new…
This evening, I’m walking home from my favorite place, and I swing through the Family Dollar for some paper towels. (I totally bought two packs of toilet paper instead of those the other day, but whatever. Don’t make fun of me.) I pop out, purchase in hand, and I head towards the a-p-t. To do so, I have to cross Main Street, which has trolley tacks on it. Now I tend to look down when I walk, especially across the brick streets that’ll trip you up and send you downward into liquids you don’t want identified. I’m usually looking for pennies, which are weirdly everywhere. My BFF laughs at how…
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Merry Christmas and Be Good to Each Other
Merry Christmas, even though it’s something I don’t even really celebrate. My bah-humbug attitude from this morning has been completely displaced by my appreciation for the strength and beauty of humanity. The Orphan Christmas Firstly, thank you Bardog for being open today, for all the employees who gave up time with their families to feed a bunch of us flying solo or those looking to escape tonight. Don’t know that you’ll ever know how thankful we all really are. I got the special tonight. Blackened chicken Alfredo on penne with sautéed mushrooms, and in true Bardog fashion, it was delicious. I couldn’t eat it all and had my leftovers boxed…
