A Bittersweet Holiday

Memorial Day is more than an extra day off of work, a long weekend at the river, flags in a lawn, or parades. It is not designed as a day to honor those that are serving but a day designed to remember those that have died while serving this country and protecting the freedom of its citizens. For this reason, it is a bittersweet holiday. It is bitter in the sense that those we love are no longer with us; it is sweet because we get to remember them. We get to smile and feel their presence.

EssaysGuest ContributorMay 23, 2015Jackson TN, Tennessee, Brad Ferrell, Memorial Day, holiday, freedom, war, soldier, family, loss, mourning, death, America

On: Lions Field

There’s a quote about nostalgia from one of my favorite television shows, Mad Men. In the scene, Don Draper, the creative director at a Manhattan advertising firm, is trying to sell his pitch to Kodak. He invokes the word nostalgia and explains it like this: “Nostalgia—it’s delicate, but potent. In Greek, ‘nostalgia’ literally means ‘the pain from an old wound’. It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone.” We all have memories from our childhood.

Hello Jackson: The Vintage Market on Church Street

There are many great ways to spend a day off work, but one of my favorites is antique shopping! One of the new kids on the block in the antique scene is The Vintage Market on Church Street. They bring something a little different to the table though, claiming, “We’re not your Grandma’s Antique Store.” Part of what makes The Vintage Market unique is in what the vendors sell.

Film: 2014 Jackson Chamber Annual Celebration

Jackson's Chamber of Commerce awarded local businesses and volunteers at their 2014 Annual Celebration, and Trevor Masterson and Kevin Adelsberger were there to capture the celebration of the volunteers and businesses that help make our Chamber and city great.

An Airbnb Perspective of Jackson

At some point over the last thirty years, our society became afraid. I’m not sure exactly when it was or what it is we have grown to fear. Is it the unknown? Is it our cultural differences? Something has made us collectively afraid. We left neighborhoods and cities for gated subdivisions and homogenous housing. Our front porches vanished and were replaced with garages, insulated from the world.