{"id":423,"date":"2008-10-23T21:48:19","date_gmt":"2008-10-24T04:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/?p=423"},"modified":"2008-10-23T22:05:01","modified_gmt":"2008-10-24T05:05:01","slug":"pausing-at-the-lorraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/?p=423","title":{"rendered":"Pausing at the Lorraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is no accident that our most poignant moments happen when we least expect them.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, facing limited time and a plethora of tourist options, from Graceland\u00a0to the ducks that stroll through the lobby of the Peabody Hotel, I set out by bus to see Memphis.<\/p>\n<p>Let me start my stating clearly that, unlike my hero Sarah Vowel, I am <em>not<\/em> enamored of historic assassination sites.\u00a0 My inclinations are toward\u00a0places of achievement (Monticello), accomplishment (Independence Hall, Philadelphia) or beauty (Taj Mahal).\u00a0 Assassination.\u00a0 Not so much.<\/p>\n<p>And so it was that, as my bus turned the corner on a nondescript street in Memphis and the familiar motel came into sight, my reaction was unexpected.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/wp-content\/uploads\/011.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-424\" title=\"011\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/wp-content\/uploads\/011-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/wp-content\/uploads\/011-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/wp-content\/uploads\/011.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I was not quite 10 years old when Martin Luther King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel.\u00a0 Though I would have to wait several years to grasp the significance and full weight of this national loss, it strikes me today that it\u00a0may be impossible to really\u00a0conceive.\u00a0 The car that Reverend King was driving\u00a0that day is parked, timelessly,\u00a0and the site is maintained so meticulously\u00a0that, for a moment, you are there.<\/p>\n<p>And while\u00a0I\u00a0can study the history and the context, the full measure of that single event is\u00a0impossible to grasp.\u00a0\u00a0I left feeling very small.<\/p>\n<p>The next day, I reconnected with Debra Rieves.\u00a0 Debra was the first person that I met here in West Memphis and, as you will hear, it was a blessing and a joy.\u00a0 She is a walking testament to southern hospitality and a delightful force of nature.\u00a0 What I did not know was the significance of this moment in her life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><object classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/fpdownload.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=7,0,0,0\" width=\"400\" height=\"15\" id=\"xspf_player\" align=\"middle\"><param name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"sameDomain\" \/><param name=\"movie\" value=\"\/xspf_player_slim.swf?song_url=https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/wp-content\/uploads\/debra-rieves.mp3&song_title='Debra Rieves'&player_title='Debra Rieves'\" \/><param name=\"quality\" value=\"high\" \/><param name=\"bgcolor\" value=\"#e6e6e6\" \/><embed src=\"\/xspf_player_slim.swf?song_url=https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/wp-content\/uploads\/debra-rieves.mp3&song_title='Debra Rieves'&player_title='Debra Rieves'\" quality=\"high\" bgcolor=\"#e6e6e6\" width=\"400\" height=\"15\" name=\"xspf_player\" align=\"middle\" allowScriptAccess=\"sameDomain\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.macromedia.com\/go\/getflashplayer\" \/><\/object><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/wp-content\/uploads\/debra-rieves.mp3\" target=_blank>Debra Rieves<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I left feeling\u00a0very moved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is no accident that our most poignant moments happen when we least expect them. Yesterday, facing limited time and a plethora of tourist options, from Graceland\u00a0to the ducks that stroll through the lobby of the Peabody Hotel, I set out by bus to see Memphis. Let me start my stating clearly that, unlike my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":432,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}