There are people that will tell you that places don’t hold memories, that they’re stored in your head and in your heart, always with you.
It is true that we carry memories with us, but it’s also true that a place, an object, a song, or even a smell can act as a time machine, transporting us back to a time and place that we had thought was lost to the sands of time.
Through sheer luck, I was able to attend Michael Jordan’s final NBA game.
For most of us, life is not like a sitcom. We don’t meet up with our friends every single day at Central Perk or MacLaren’s or Cheers, but we do have our spots that we prefer over all others. We may not go there all the time, but we feel most comfortable there. It is where we are in our element, where we invite everyone to join us. It is our home field, as it were.
Mine was Memphis Taproom.
So I was quite dismayed a few weeks ago when I read the news that it would be closing its doors for good.
The same day I bought and discarded a new lock because I couldn’t recall the combination, I found my old lock and, after giving it some time, remembered that combination.
There’s a metaphor for life in there somewhere.
It’s often misguided – and sometimes even dangerous – to put value, worth, and emotion into inanimate objects.
“But no one can be happy if worried about the most important thing in one’s life.”
– Cicero
You think this thing will make you happy. Then, you think the other thing will make you happy.
“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.”
― Marcel Proust
In a world of fake news, alternative facts, skewed polls, and misremembered anecdotes, it can sometimes be difficult to know what is real and what is not.
It’s not even on Google Street View.
About a mile from the home in which I grew up, Google decided they had seen enough and turned onto (more of) a main road. And after my parents sold that house in 2007, I’ve never had a reason to go back, so the place I called home for a quarter-century only remained in my memories.
The following is an excerpt from Christopher Pierznik’s new book In Defense Of… Supporting Underappreciated Artists, Athletes, Actors, and Albums, in which the author defends and celebrates individuals, teams, and projects that were unfairly maligned or misunderstood from the world of music, sports, TV & film. It can be purchased in both paperback and Kindle.
It was the perfect ending.
The Passion of Christopher Pierznik 