Not a political statement of right or wrong, simply an observation. Not an observation of the laws broken, but of the lives changed.
They come to America by the thousands each year if not by more in search of better jobs so that they can send the money they earn back home to support their family. Some have kids in the Latin American countries that stayed behind while others have aging parents unable to work.
That night before you leave your family behind in search of help to make ends meet, I can’t imagine. It would be a mixture of excitement, happiness, the fear of loneliness, the fear of failure and more.
“She packed my bags last night, preflight
Zero hour, nine a.m.
And I'm gonna be high
As a kite by then
I miss the earth so much
I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight
And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no no no
I'm a rocket man
Rocket man
Burnin' out this fuse
Up here alone”
-Elton John, Rocket Man, released in 1972
Photo: Man from Guatemala who now lives along a river in Nashville.
A man and his dog on Hippie Hill
On Friday, I went with Beesley Animal Clinic to Hippie Hill to vaccinate dogs and hand out rabies tags (for free). I should specify, I will sometimes hold the dogs still while the Veterinarian gives the shots. That is pretty much the extent of my help other than driving to the always interesting areas.
While at Hippie Hill, I ran across a man who was once homeless in Murfreesboro. He is now living on the hill and just based on my observation, he is feeling better about life because he is now in a community as opposed to living alone under a bridge or on a side street somewhere in Murfreesboro.
Hippie Hill is not for everyone, but it does offer community for the lonely, the kicked to the curb, the outcast or the lost. Community is important for those struggling in the crazy and extreme world in which we live.
According to the dictionary, community is one of two things or either both: a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. Community is also a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. To me, those are some of the most important things to have behind you as you fight to get on your feet.
For the man photographed, he said that he is an Army Veteran who talked about experiencing war time saga in the Middle East.
“My Pitbull is my service dog,” he said. While you don’t typically hear about Pitbull dogs being used as service animals he further explained, “In Nashville, they wouldn’t let me take er’ into the shelter even though it is my service animal – they even proclaimed that a Pitbull should never be a service dog.” Such a statement shows that the organization he visited does not value service animals because any breed of dog can be used as a service animal.
To be a comforting companion for the hurt, the distraught or the struggling, a service animal does not have to be specially registered to receive such a label. Service dogs have been proven beneficial in a major way for our Veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. In fact, it is well documented that such animals are proven to offer comfort to those with a long list of mental illnesses.
As for the dog photographed next to his human, that human rescued and trained the animal. That human cares for the dog and the dog offers him comfort in a major way, despite the breed that is frowned upon by some.
It is 100% true that the man photographed could apply for a registered service dog with a variety of Veterans groups or directly through the VA, but the timeline for him to receive the new animal is unclear. There is a waiting list and a number of qualifications that he would have to meet before even being eligible to receive a certified service dog. One stipulation that many groups have is that the recipient of the animal have a real address.
Like many government waters that our Veterans have to wade through to get help, the waters are not only murky, but deep to receive a service animal.
According to the VA, every request for a service animal is reviewed and evaluated for the ability to care for the animal to be given to the recipient. They also review the goals that are to be accomplished through the use of the dog, sometimes failing to understand that the dog simply offers comfort during distress or loneliness.
One of the many issues that Veterans face in receiving proper help is that after wartime, many return changed by what they saw. That change could equal alcoholism without help in the beginning. Alcoholism without help mixed with high emotions could amount to fights on civilian property, bar brawls, etc. Those actions fall into a lack of control category with resulting DUI, assault, aggravated assault charges. The domino effect then ends with a drop in rank if still enlisted which could mean less pay upon separation or perhaps even a dishonorable discharge that could equal a lack of medical benefits. Many times, that discharge comes before the service member received the proper help for what they saw while fighting for our country as enlisted to do so.
Trauma shapes the brain in a major way and in some circumstances, the brain of someone who has yet to even have a fully developed thinking process. As an example, if someone were to enlist at age 18 and see hand to hand combat at 19, that trauma witnessed will change the way they think in a major way because scientist and psychologist have confirmed that the brain continues to develop up to age 25.
In an NPR interview recorded in 2011, Dr. Sandra Aamodt stated, “The car rental companies got to it first, but neuroscientists have caught up and brain scans show clearly that the brain is not fully finished developing until about age 25.”
Now, back to the service dog… When a Veteran is dishonorably discharged they are almost instantly disqualified to receive an animal. But, if a Veteran is approved for a service dog, the Veteran is then referred to an outside agency approved by the government to provide specialized dogs. From there, the Veterans name is added to a waiting list to receive the animal.
An ADA’s ruling from 1990 will not allow for the title of “Service Animal” for just any dog. However, the ruling does not specify any particular breed, which means any dog can be titled a service dog. Of course that equals more confusion when you factor in that legally speaking, there is not a hard and fast certification required for a service animal. But, the service animal training community self regulates the standards for training a service animal.
Multiple rulings from the 1990’s show case after case where persons with service animals living in public housing won their suit allowing for them to own and have their dogs on properties that do not allow for pets.
One ruling from 1990 shows that an ESA animal or an “Emotional Support Animal,” does not have to receive any specific training to provide therapeutic benefit to an individual with mental or psychiatric disability. Another ruling that unfolded in the courts started in 1990 and ended in 1998 after a judge ruled that a property manager violated federal statutes when requiring proof from tenants that their dog had received specialized training to become a service animal (Green v. Housing Authority of Clackamas County). A ruling from 2013 suggested that a college dorm had violated a student’s rights in regards to fair housing when they would not allow for her service animal to live with her in the dorm (United States v. Univ. of Neb. at Kearney). Cases like this continue with rulings falling to the favor of the service animal owner.
So, if one man who suffers from the negative yet heroic impacts of war while fighting for his country believes and sees his animal as his service dog, then so be it. I will recognize his animal as well – just as the folks at Hippie Hill do.
“Dogs don’t rationalize. They don’t hold anything against a person. They don’t see the outside of a human but the inside of a human.” —Cesar Millan (dog trainer)
Fathers, they are important even if your life is lived deep in the woods of Tennessee
Not everyone lives to the beat of the same drum. Of course, that is what makes life interesting for me to sometimes view from the outside looking in.
Personally, I enjoy a house that has a yard to mow, but then again I find it relaxing to mow with my headphones on. Others like to live where there is no need to mow, surrounded by nature at its best, which I understand.
Dwight Teagarden, who is holding the newborn, is from Murfreesboro, TN. He grew up here and he even went to Bellwood Christian Academy back when they had a full blown high school.
Teagarden was so excited to tell me about his new son. While it is true that he is a tad bit on the older side for a new child at age 57, you would never know by talking to him. He was all smiles, which is a very positive thing in this world of children growing up without a father in their life. However, I think his age makes him better understand the importance of a father being in a child's life.
So many studies show how important a father is or can be - which is eye opening if you have never dove into the subject.
A 2011 article in Psychology Today by Dr. Ditta M. Oliker touched base on the father and sometimes fatherless issue. One of the topics she brought up in her studies was that pre-1970, research on families typically left out the father or downplayed his importance. Of course, that led to reporting that was not representative of how powerful a father can or should be in the lives of his children. It also diminished the role of fathers greatly.
While research in the 1950’s to 1970’s nearly ignored the father, the dads were involved in a major way compared to families today.
In 1960 only 10% of children were raised without a father in the household. Today, that number is vastly different with 40% of homes lacking a live-in father. In 1950 there were 393 thousand divorced adults in America. In 2008, that number climbed to 8.4 million, according to the US National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States and National Vital Statistics.
Dr. Oliker wrote, “There is no question that fathers do play an important part in their children's lives; that the majority of studies affirm that an involved father can play a crucial role particularly in the cognitive, behavioral and general health and well-being areas of a child's life; that having a positive male role model helps an adolescent boy develop positive gender-role characteristics; that adolescent girls are more likely to form positive opinions of men and are better able to relate to them when fathered by an involved father; that it is generally accepted, under most circumstances, a father's presence and involvement can be as crucial to a child's healthy development as is the mother's; and that experiencing validation of their importance in the general parenting literature has made fathers much more conscious of their value and, in turn, leads to their greater desire to be involved.”
A 2007 article by Julia Borisenko noted, “The absence of a father-figure is detrimental to child personality development. At the same time, fatherhood can be a factor of male personality development of the father.” What is interesting about the article from Borisenko is that she is a Social Psychology faculty Department member of Kemerovo State University in Russia. In other words, translations of fathering roles are universal.
A woman was once was known for her many radical ideas and thoughts on women’s rights once wrote, “Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father.” While the views of Lydia Maria Francis Child in the 1800's may have been viewed as crazy for women at the time, today her views would probably be viewed as conservative.
The American Novelist from Massachusetts lived her life between 1802 and 1880. Child was against women being segregated to work by themselves and instead alongside men. She also hated slavery and spoke-out about the issue in her time on a regular basis. However, while she was pro women’s rights 100 percent of the time in her day, she was also pro father.
In closing, I have to say that I find it interesting that starting in the 1800’s a woman who was all about women’s rights totally values the role of a father in a child’s life. But today, women’s rights is often about forgetting the father, simply based on my observation of movements across the country. I am also stuck in my thoughts about the 1960’s, where the role of the father was left out of studies even though only 10% of households were without fathers in the home at the time. As I jump ahead to research in the 2000’s, I confirm that 40% of households in America are fatherless. So where did our thoughts as a whole society change between the 1800’s and 2000’s? Why did we move so far ahead and forget about fathers only to realize in the 2000’s that they are more important than originally thought?
Pancreatitis, heart attack and coma = New outlook on life
Ray Gann has been making cabinets nearly his entire life. He is originally from Nashville, Tennessee, but moved to LaVergne with his parents at age 15.
In 1983, he opened Gann’s Cabinet’s in LaVergne, Tennessee. After years of service to happy homeowners and businesses, he somewhat retired leaving the cabinet shop in the hands of others during the day while he comes in every couple of days.
Almost a year ago Mr. Gann came down with a bad case of pancreatitis for the fourth time in his life. After being rushed to the hospital he had a heart attack. A coma followed the next 28 days and some family members thought that he wouldn’t survive.
Despite the odds being against him, Mr. Gann survived and he said he has a new outlook on life that includes emotions that he never felt before about living. It was a better life…
There are more than 200,000 pancreatitis cases each year in the United States. It has many causes, but one constant similarity exists among the cases… pain.
In case you are curious, pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreases. Of course, the pancreas is a necessity as it produces the digestive enzymes that allow your body to properly breakdown and ultimately absorb protein.
When pancreatitis attacks occur, so does pain in the upper abdomen, nausea, vomiting and more. Chronic pancreatitis usually starts between the ages of 30 and 40 and males are more likely to have it than females. Some cases of pancreatitis are deadly with 132,700 deaths worldwide in 2015, the latest year with study results available.
Street music with rockabilly style
Two of the four rockabilly Outlaw Rituals in Chattanooga, TN.
“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” ― -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, widely recognized as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music (1856-1791)
Laughter beats the pain at times
He sits in a wheelchair because of diabetes and he suffers from neuropathy of the legs and feet. He told me, “Doctors describe walking with neuropathy as walking on pins and needles, well they know nothing, it’s nothing like that and it’s pure pain!” As the 65 year old man continued, “I wasn’t always in a wheelchair, I used to work in the automotive industry.”
Gary Rupp is from Detroit, Michigan, but moved away about three months ago because the dying city got too expensive to call home. After a little research, Gary found one of the cheapest places to live was Chattanooga, Tennessee – so he made the move.
The costs of Living for Gary (Detroit Vs. Chattanooga):
Gary currently calls the ChattCity Motel on East 20th Street in Chattanooga his home. He has a room that he rents for about $300 monthly, which is cheaper than some of the dirtiest motels in Nashville, Memphis and even Murfreesboro.
In Detroit, utilities average about $115 per month in a small apartment and that small apartment in a middle class neighborhood costs about $530 per month. The small apartment is only 480 square feet in size, which is a studio apartment.
In Chattanooga, you can get the same apartment for $483 per month and utilities will cost you $94 per month or less.
While saving $68 monthly would not convince most people to move, when you start factoring in the cost of food in Tennessee verses Detroit, transportation costs, etc. – it actually makes sense for someone on a fixed income to make that move.
What happens with neuropathy of the legs?
Some of the things that neuropathy causes in the legs include: burning pain, freezing pain, jabbing feelings as if you are being stabbed, extreme sensitivity to touch, lack of coordination and muscle weakness or paralysis.
Laughter beats pain:
I feel it is important to say that Gary laughed three times as we talked. The first time when I handed him an ice cold bottle of water, the second when I handed him a package of Oreo cookies and the third as we joked at nothingness.
"Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain." - Charlie Chaplin, English comic actor, filmmaker, composer (1889-1977)
Sarah needs a new kidney
Life can throw us curve balls at times that we often don’t know how to cope with. At other times, life throws us fast pitches that are altogether too fast to catch and we feel as if everything is out of control. But not Sarah Baker, even though she is going through a lot, she seems to be taking it all in stride and with a smile.
Sarah, who lives in Smyrna, Tennessee, undergoes about four hours of dialysis three times per week. She has held onto that schedule for the past two years or longer. She needs a new kidney and she is on the list to receive one, but it takes time – a lot of it.
Listen to this 8 minute and 15 second interview of what it’s like to undergo dialysis treatment three times weekly as she waits for good news.
Of course, you could help her with that good news by calling the Vanderbilt Kidney Donation Center and volunteering to donate your kidney.
If you would like to learn how you can donate or to see if you are a match, CLICK HERE today. You can also call the Vanderbilt Kidney Transplant Center at 615-936-0695.
By the way, the costs for the donor are fully covered.
Removing the past
ABOVE: Click to enlarge photos
Lee, who is homeless, once had a large tattoo on his forearm that read, “Member – KKK.” However, that is now covered by a cross representing Jesus and a rose representing Lee’s mother who passed away about 8 years ago.
What is even more intriguing about the KKK tattoo being covered up by a cross is that the tattoo artist is black. Dewayne, who owns Beast Mode Ink in Murfreesboro, TN said he would be proud to cover up such a tattoo for Lee. In fact, the two hit it off great. It was likely a site that would not have been seen just a few years back.
“I can’t live like this anymore,” he said while looking at the rose. He then talked about how the rose would remind him that his mother wanted him to lead a better life and the cross would re-enforce that in a major way. He went on to say, “I made my mind up being homeless, that I’ve got to change, my mother don’t want me living like this and I decided to get this hatred off of me and live for God.”
Lee said that prior to the cross being tattooed onto his arm today, “My body had hate on it.”
Lee elaborated, “The old tattoo that I had on there was hatred and this tattoo that I’ve got on here is love for my mother and the man upstairs – that’s what I wanted right there.”
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
He lost his leg in a shark attack... not really
He was quietly sitting on the ground beneath the shadow of a closed business in Chattanooga, TN. Looking down, he refused to make eye contact with those passing by on a busy, but humid Saturday. The heat index was over 100 degrees. He wasn’t asking for money or help of any kind, just sitting in thought.
His name is William, “But my close friends call me peg leg,” he said with a laugh while holding up the prosthetic leg sitting by his right. He then said, “I was born with a clubfoot and they went ahead and removed it in 1966.” The foot was malformed from the start, so it was removed at birth.
“I usually have a good story for people when they ask what happened to my leg,” he told me with a smile. “Someday's I lost it in a shark attack, other times it was a ski boat accident,” he explained.
Today William is 51 years old. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, but later moved to Memphis where he lived a few years before heading to Chattanooga.
“I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's only me, and I walk alone
I walk this empty street
On the boulevard of broken dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one, and I walk alone”
-Green Day, “I Walk Alone”
I met with a Keeper of Time
In year 1900 the Coleman Company was first introduced to the world after they incorporated, but not as a camping and sporting goods manufacture. Instead, the company opened under the name of the Hydro-Carbon Light Company, manufacturing lanterns that were later named after W.C. Coleman.
It wasn’t until 1909 that the first and famous Coleman Lantern was introduced. The company went on to manufacture everything from cooking stoves to canoes, like the one you see on this Jeep belonging to Brian Burgess.
Burgess, who is an archaeologist, totes his 1958 Coleman canoe with him on a regular basis. The day I ran into him, he was about to load it into the Tennessee River in Chattanooga.
Such canoes made out of aluminum were manufactured for the first time directly after World War II. Many outdoor enthusiast switched over from wood canoes to aluminum during that time period because they were so low maintenance and quite durable.
While digging for gold may sound more glorious, Burgess prefers to dig for history. He has searched the country far and wide for interesting finds. “Anywhere that there is high ground and walking distance to water, there has been man,” he told me while basically suggesting that history can be nearly anywhere.
Originally from the Lone Star State Burgess said that his grandfather, who is 100 years old today, sparked his search for treasures. He said that his grandfather took him exploring as a kid when he was only 4 or 5 years old. “We’re keepers of time,” he stated while talking about the importance of archaeologist.
“I also collect dinosaur bones,” he said while talking about how the bones will wash up along the banks of the Brazos River in Texas. The Brazos is the 11th longest river in the United States, which means it passes through lots of history. The Brazos was also where a scene from the battle between the Texas Navy and Mexican Navy during the Texas Revolution took place. It was also an important navigational voyage during the American Civil War. So, depending on where you are on the river, you may just be lucky enough to come across something interesting.
Not everything Burgess comes across is for keeps. In fact, he has given valuable artifacts to multiple museums. He suggested that history sometimes finds him, so he passes it along to allow others to share in the find.
“We’re keepers of time.” – Brian Burgess, Chattanooga, Tennessee
To the beat of a different drum
Being different while being yourself is sometimes the best thing you can do, especially in times like this when heroin is growing in popularity and crime seems to be turning to gang activity. Rap artist around the country continue to hit a great bass note, but the messages in their songs are still similar to the messages that were first made popular by the likes of NWA and the Ghetto Boys in the 1980’s and early 90’s. However, two rap artist who live in Murfreesboro want to change that with their music.
David Manning and Humble Me perform as a rap duo called “Change Musik.” Their songs may sometimes mention gang violence, but not in the sense you are likely thinking. Instead of glorifying criminal activity, they choose to rap about the negative lifestyle that goes along with such enterprise.
Manning stated in an interview, “Hip hop is very big on being real and true,” which of course is why you may hear songs discussing drive by shootings, drug deals gone bad and mistreating women – because the writer of the songs has lived just that – a life surrounded by crime or violence. Manning, who grew up living with a family that ran carnivals, traveled from state to state seeing all sorts of lifestyles with negative outcomes. Despite his surroundings, he picked positive things in his life to hold onto and value as opposed to negative sites or situations.
“I began to write music as my life began to change,” Manning said. He became a gospel rapper when he turned to Christianity. “Really, I want people to experience freedom man – and anything apart from truth will lead you to bondage,” he suggested.
Humble Me attended Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, TN and stated, “I scored really high in socialization.” After his short stint at Oakland, he was transferred to Riverdale High School. “When I got thrown out of Riverdale that’s when I got saved,” he recalled. Humble Me went on to state, “When people start graduating and getting out of school and you went to school and started when they went, it starts making you really look at your life.”
His next school was Holloway High School, which would be the third high school that Humble Me attended in Rutherford County. While there, he started to understand the value of good people and education. Of course, he was older than most students at age 19.
While at Holloway, he spoke to past principal Ivan Duggin who told him that the school would once again start a basketball team if he could find at least 14 people to sign onto the team roster, which he did. After helping to start the team he decided he wanted to play for the NBA. Amazingly, college representatives visited the school and watched Humble Me play and some colleges even contacted him at home asking if he would play for their school, but he turned the offers down when he felt that God told him to “Speak to his people.” It was then that he decided that he would speak to the masses through music.
It was during those high school years that Humble Me and David Manning teamed up to start a Gospel Rap duo. Together, the two focused on a solution to problems that their generation failed to see through the eyes of rap artist in their time like Tupac Shakur, Biggie, Jay Z, Eminem and Master P. Humble Me said, “All of those guys were not painting a picture of negativity, some of them were just expressing their environment.” He said there is also a solution to the problem of what those rappers sing about, but many of the rappers in his time did not see that solution.
The question of what the solution was in order to live a better life was clear to both Humble Me and Manning. For them, their solution was giving their life to God. Manning said, “If I’m really going to make an impact in my community and I’m gonna’ really reach back then this is the best means to do it by,” talking about living a positive lifestyle and rapping about the good that God can do in someone’s life. The duo wholeheartedly believe that music can be used to change lives in Murfreesboro, Nashville and far beyond.
It is not always easy to be a Gospel Rap Artist and Manning said, “People look at us like – Man ya’ll are gospel rap artist?” He followed that by stating, “Man God wants to use whatever you got to bring people to him and bring glory to him.” He said, “God has changed my life.”
In one of their songs they rap, “They say if you have faith just the size of a mustard seed, run into a forest blind probably wouldn’t hit a tree, David beat Goliath with a sling and a stone then we’ll sell a million records just singing these songs.” The goal of Change Musik is to change people by focusing on God and making sure that the Bible is intertwined with their songs.
In addition to making music, Manning and Humble Me preach to others on their television show called Change TV. The show is currently featured nationwide on CTN, Legacy TV and Walk TV.
To learn more about their music or to contact them, visit ChangeMusik.com
This Nashville man had a paralyzing stroke in 2015, but is walking today
Terrence Heeney had a paralyzing stroke exactly three years ago in July of 2015 and thought he would never walk again or be able to properly sort his words. However, he has fought the negative thoughts and battled through rehabilitation and is now walking and talking as he did before.
Heeney is a man after my own heart. He has traveled all over the world visiting just about every country you can name while working for Ingram Content Group / Ingram International. “I’ve seen most of the world, it is really beautiful,” he told me with a smile.
Mr. Heeney told me, “I will not get depressed – no matter how this turns out, I will not allow myself to get depressed.” He went on to say, “When I wake up I say – The potential for another day.”
Doctors told him while in the hospital that he would need to re-learn all the basics like walking, chewing food, swallowing food, etc. After being released from the medical center, he underwent six solid months of rehabilitation at the Life Care Center of Hickory Woods on Murfreesboro Road. He eventually gained the strength to once again live and he decided to give back to those who helped him while encouraging others that the road to recovery does indeed get easier.
Today, Heeney visits the rehab center on a regular basis to share his story of hope with others. He smiled and told me about a 55 year old patient who recently had an intensive surgery to his lower legs. Heeney talked about how the man was not recovering at the speed he had aimed for and was in a lot of pain. I asked Heeney what he said to the man to ease his anxiety and he laughed a little while stating, “I said, you know, you’re a young man and this is only a piece of your life, not your whole life, so knock it off.” With a chuckle Heeney told me that the next day he visited the rehab center and the man’s wife told him that she now has a brand new husband. The 55-year old man walked out of the facility on his own a month later.
Heeney continues to help others with a new outlook on life. One of the many things that he enjoys includes teaching. “I teach English three times a week to elderly seniors who are from war-torn countries and I help them get their citizenship – so I step outside myself,” he stated.
In closing I asked the simple question, “What would you tell someone who maybe having a hard time or who is going through a struggle right now?” Again I saw his face light up, “You’ve got to train your mind to be positive and not allow yourself to get depressed. If you do, set the clock on your stove for 10 minutes and when that buzzer goes off – it’s over, stop thinking about yourself.” He also told me that after his time at the rehab center was over and he returned home, he knew the road to recovery was not yet over. So, he would deliberately buy only a small amount of groceries so that he would be forced to make a return trip to the store up to three times per week – in other words he forced himself to get out of the house.
“You know, you’re a young man and this is only a piece of your life, not your whole life, so knock it off.” - Terrence Heeney of Nashville, TN
Farm life in the 2000's
Life on the outskirts: In Conyers, Georgia, a family lives on a small farm that looks like farms once looked to me in the movies. Quaint, with a cluttered front porch full of their treasurer's that others fail to value. This happened to be one such farm that I was able to capture.
Conyers, Georgia is near Covington, GA, where most episodes of the Dukes of Hazard were filmed many years ago. Sometimes those episodes would spill over into Conyers, which is only a stone's throw away.
Today, much of Covington and Conyers still look the same, when compared to that first episode of The Dukes of Hazard in 1979.
"There's trouble and then theres trouble and the trouble with some trouble is at first...it dont look like trouble." -Waylon Jennings
So long Calvin
So long Calvin Spalding… He was one of the nicest humans I have met in recent years. Always talkative and kind to others. But, he had struggles with health and addiction over the years and I witnessed some of those ups and downs.
At one point, he was living under a bridge and later he lived in a storage unit. He eventually got kicked out of the rental unit because he wasn’t supposed to make his bed there. He then went to a motel, but that got too expensive to remain in. Then, positive things happened and he moved to Christiana.
Just past the City Limits of Murfreesboro he lived in a small home in tranquil Christiana. He would ride his bike from that home to Murfreesboro almost daily to run what he called his errands, or to see friends in several homeless camps offering encouragement at times and on other trips, those friends listening to him talk about his life.
It wasn’t too long ago that Calvin sat by the bedside of Ms. Margarita as she recovered from back surgery after she was released from the hospital. Some of you reading this helped pay for that motel room for Margarita and never knew that Calvin was the friend who helped nurse her back to health. He stayed with her in that dark and quiet room serving her every need.
From time to time I would receive a phone call from Calvin who would tell me he was greatly confused on how to pack up unneeded items to put in his storage unit. He would say, “Scott, I just don’t know what I will need and not need, but I have too much stuff…. Could you help me sort it out?” At times, my wife and I would visit him and help him decide what would be needed for the summer and what could be stored away for the winter. The confusion he often felt about small things was at times, overwhelming.
In 2015 I took a photo of Calvin when he lived under a bridge and he was so proud of that picture. Another person who was homeless told Calvin that she saw his photo online and it was as if he became a celebrity. He smiled so big when he told me that story.
I always called Calvin by the nickname of Mick Jagger, as he told me himself that he resembled the infamous Rolling Stone. He would always chuckle when I called him that.
Calvin turned 56 on June 3rd.
In the end, Calvin was back to living in a tent and at times a motel in Murfreesboro. In the end, Calvin was still Calvin, aiming to make others smile despite his pains of mental illness and heart problems.
“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP”― Leonard Nimoy
Suicide in Tennessee
I met Charles in 2015 while out with my friend Jerry in downtown Nashville, TN.
“My father committed suicide in 2007, several months later… my mom committed suicide, I wish I knew why – I want to figure it out, it would help me – I wish I were there, I could have helped her,” he told me as if he were desperate to find answers.
As I continued to speak with Charles he said that he too thinks about suicide. He then rolled up his sleeve to show me a large scar on his wrist where he attempted to kill himself.
“When people kill themselves, they think they're ending the pain, but all they're doing is passing it on to those they leave behind.” ― Jeannette Walls
According to the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network, suicide numbers have climbed since 2006, of course our population has also increased, so to get a true idea of the statistics, you would have to look at the percentages, which do indeed show a slight increase.
In 2006, there were 866 suicides in the Volunteer State, which is 14.4% of the population per every 100,000 residents. In 2010, there were 932 suicides or 14.7% per 100,000 residents. In 2015, the Health Department recorded 1,065 suicides or a rate of 16.1% per every 100,000 residents.
People don’t commit suicide because they want to die, they commit suicide because they want to stop the pain, stop the voices they may hear, stop the brokenness in their life… this first has to be understood to simply prevent someone taking their own life.
“Did you really want to die?"
"No one commits suicide because they want to die."
"Then why do they do it?"
"Because they want to stop the pain.”
― Tiffanie DeBartolo, How to Kill a Rock Star
Charles is from Knoxville, Tennessee but moved to Nashville after the death of his parents. He told me, “Someone stole all of my medication, they even took my blood pressure medicine.” He said they also took his medication for his Bi-Polar Disorder, “I have been off of it for 3-weeks,” he said.
Suicide and mental health or mental illness are closely tied together, as realized by medical experts.
In 2016, the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network announced the idea of “Tennessee’s Zero Suicide Initiative.” While the idea of zero suicides sounds great, it is an unrealistic goal to strive for – being realistic and understanding the depths of mental illness could be a better idea? Could be.
To be honest, such an idea of ending suicide may give way to less news stories about suicide and less information on the suicide aftermath that families suffer. It concerns me that looking at stopping the rates will possibly give some residents the false idea that suicide numbers are on the decrease, which will possibly allow a family member in the direct line of helping a loved one to have the thought that “It” won’t happen.
Despite my views on “Ending suicide,” the organization is moving forward with their efforts and in fairness, they are putting out more brochures. But are brochures going to cause an impact? My thought is an overwhelming “No.” Education is needed, but so is more accessible help in the field of mental health. We need experts to hit campsites of those suffering, we need home visits for those too depressed to get out of bed, we need more help and we need more volunteers.
As for Charles, I have not seen him since 2015. I do not know how his current mental state is today, nor do I know where he may be living. I just hope he is… living.
The stress of life
He was sitting alone in a dark alley with only the light from a nearby road creeping onto his right side and the left barely lit by an open restaurant door that lead to the busy kitchen. He was crouched down on a milk crate eating a tray of noodles, likely from a cook inside the restaurant.
I could not understand much of what he had to say, but he was very talkative so I simply listened to what sounded like meaningless chatter. But, it made me wonder what has caused him to become this way? Did it start before he became homeless while working as a diesel mechanic or did it happen due to one extreme stressor in life or multiple stressful situations with negative outcomes?
Have you ever thought about how unnerving our world is today? So many people fall into emotional and physical disrepair because of an inability to handle the things around us. Politics, natural disasters, physical ailments, declining health due to age or bad habits, addiction, loss of employment, false ideas of how religion should be verses how it is viewed in our churches, fear of relationships – I could continue typing for hours naming things that bog us down. But, why do we let these things get under our skin?
The simple answer is that not all of us do – some are better equipped with handling today’s times.
A Yale University study found that some people had brains that were able to process stressors better than others. What was interesting is that the study allowed researchers to see which three areas of the brain responded to stress during a functional MRI (fMRI).
The Yale study saw a decrease in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) area of the brain at first and then a huge increase in that same area by most of their study participants. That huge increase could be seen on scans that were overseen by doctors and scientist. For those that had the hyper increase of activity, it meant that their brains were blocking the stressors or protecting the person from stress.
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex area is involved in brain management, in a way. It is utilized when dealing with self-related processing or figuring out when to feel stress or not to feel stress. This area of the brain also causes disruptions in individuals with autism and those who function poorly in social settings. In other words, the vmPFC is not building that wall to block the stress as it does in some people.
Basically, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex either goes into overdrive to protect the brain from extreme emotional response, or fails to go into overdrive (fails to build that wall), which equals a flood of stress and emotional reactions to the stressor.
The Yale study found that those whose brain failed to guard against the stressor, they likely had an increased risk of binge drinking, binge eating or other self-destructive behavior after being stressed.
So if you react poorly to stress and find yourself acting out in self-destructive behaviors after a hard day, your ventromedial prefrontal cortex area is not guarding your brain. A quick fix for this problem is not available, but it is now the spotlight of more research.
For those who experience one extreme stressors daily, weekly or even monthly – these stressors add up and cause serious health issues. Those health issues can include high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease which can lead to more stress. More stress then leads to depression, anxiety or the onset of an underlying mental illness that did not make itself known until that stress in life continued to build up. So, if not tackled in the beginning, it can quickly become uncontrollable for an individual.
The end result of accumulated stress that is not handled properly… we break.
“Stress is the trash of modern life-we all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.” ― Danzae Pace
Depression strikes the homeless and others - What about medication?
Sadness is something that others may be able to see in someone’s face, but what is behind the eyes only the sufferer knows. However, sadness and depression are quite different.
For example: “Shorty,” who is pictured, was likely sad when he and his girlfriend had a falling out. However, he may or may not have been depressed at the time, but sadness was definitely an emotion he felt. The good news is that sadness passes fairly quickly while depression can stick around for months or even years.
So many of those who live on the street experience deep and often dark depression. While it may start out as something mild in their younger years, it lingers into age and grows deeper into severe depression.
People often confuse mild depression with severe depression, only because they have not experienced such agony themselves. Others suggest that those who are sad simply pull themselves up by their bootstraps, which can’t be done if severe depression is involved. Those who make such suggestions fail to understand or even try to understand the underlying darkness.
Sadness can trigger depression and your chances are also higher if you have family members who have fought depression in the past. Severe illnesses can also lead to depression. Other items that can lead to depression in adult life include being abused as a child (any nature of abuse). In fact, child abuse greatly increases the chances of becoming depressed as an adult.
To help cure depression, doctors often encourage a healthier lifestyle along with medication. But, if you are homeless it is hard to eat right and hit the gym. It is also hard to afford a doctor’s visit, much less pay for medication. But, studies show that medication is important.
The brain is extremely complex, as most realize. Some areas of the brain regulate mood while other areas focus on daily tasks like extending your arm to turn off the alarm clock.
According to a Harvard Health article from 2009, “Areas that play a significant role in depression are the amygdala, the thalamus, and the hippocampus.” A recent study demonstrated how the hippocampus is 9% to 13% smaller in those who are depressed or who have dealt with bouts of depression.
To increase positive moods and decrease depression, the production of new neurons are needed. Doctors will prescribe antidepressants to help boost the number of neurotransmitters, but the medication takes four to six weeks to start working. The extended period of time between the depression and a good mood have to do with neurons growing and forming new connections.
Antidepressants promote the growth of nerve cells in the hippocampus. It takes weeks for that growth to occur, which explains why it takes so long for antidepressants to work. This growth process is called neurogenesis, meaning neuron growth or formation.
As for Shorty… he told me that he came to Tennessee because of a girl. He later said that he went to jail for 7 months because of that same girl. "I caught her with another man," he told me. The woman is now in California.
“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.” ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
We judge
Why do we judge what we see? Take this photo as an example… I snapped this several years ago in downtown Nashville. It was a Saturday night and this man was going from person to person asking for a mere fifty cents. Did anyone offer him the two quarters he wanted? The answer would be no. But, because I am slightly curious about everyone, I not only moved towards him while others moved away, I gave him fifty cents.
When we see people that we don’t know we intertwine their appearance with our own circumstances, our own past, our hurts and faults. After we take a look at that person, our perception becomes our reality, thanks to our minds creativity.
There was a lawyer who represented the United States in the infamous Iran hostage situation during the 1980’s whom I have always thought of as an interesting, powerful and extremely smart individual. If you saw him, you would assume he was an ambulance chaser.
Herb Cohen wears cheap brown or dark brown suits. His hair looks as if he gets it cut at the least expensive barber shop in the mall. His jokes are bad and he has a thick New Yorker accent. But, he is smart and he knows that his outward appearance is deceiving, which he likes.
Cohen is the prime negotiator who helped to get 52 American hostages out of Iran and to safety. For those who are curious about history, the hostage crisis arose during the Jimmy Carter administration and ended with the Ronald Regan administration, thanks to Cohen.
So what makes Cohen so different? I think for one it is his understanding of people and how he aims to treat everyone nice. He listens, he respects the opinion of others and he keeps his demeanor calm. He actually calls his demeanor “Calculated incompetence.” Sounds pretty simple actually.
Cohen has it figured out, not judging is not only good for everyday life, but also in business.
“You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.” ― Herb Cohen
Bonnaroo: Chilling
Despite massive crowds of 65,000... Some knew the ultimate definition of "Chilling" among the masses.
Bonnaroo and the crowds
He stood in silence as the stage set was changed while the commotion before and around him continued at Bonnaroo.