Our Memphis
Runners at the “Let's Finish Liza's Run” event Friday morning, Sep 9th, 2022.
Let’s be honest, the first week of September in Memphis was a really tough one. Last weekend I left for a girls’ trip with a heavy mind and heart. I was discouraged to see how little love the rest of the country seemed to have for my city. So many of the social media posts I read and news outlets I tuned to seemed eager to reinforce that Memphis is a scary city, and worse than that, they were victim-blaming a young woman whose life was tragically taken through no fault of her own. Everything about it felt wrong. When I returned on Sunday, those same news feeds were filled with reminders of how good Memphians are at showing up for each other. Seeing the hundreds of people that gathered at 4 o’clock in the morning to finish “Eliza’s Run” brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my heart.
Memphis has experienced a great deal of heartbreak in recent weeks. Despite the agonizing sense of uncertainty it left us with, I believe it is critical that we explore the possibility that our community can grow and become closer as a result of the hardships we are facing together. It has been my experience that tragedy can bring out the best in the human spirit: ordinary people show remarkable courage, compassion, and kindness by helping friends and strangers reestablish a sense of security and belonging.
Walking back into Cordelia’s on Monday, I felt a renewed sense of purpose and responsibility for the role that our store plays in our neighborhood and how critical it is to continue to lead our little corner of the community to trust and rely on each other. When horrific events happen, we have a choice to remain stuck in the tragedy, paralyzed by the fear of not fully understanding how or why, or consciously work to strengthen the resilience and hope needed to draw us closer together. If we direct our efforts to what can be done in the face of tragedy and seize opportunities for something good to come from it, we can allow a little hope to fuel the energy needed to rebuild and create positive legacies to pass on to future generations. Being able to trust in our future and trust in the resilience of our city will allow for the glimmer of security we need to move forward. I hope you also feel uplifted by our city’s willingness to show up for and support each other!
-Erica, GM Cordelia's Market
