The Highlight of My Trip

If any one memory will stand out from this journey, if any one photo will be cherished, if there is any one thing about which I have absolute certainty, it the walk Steve and I made to the National Civil Rights Museum. Memphis is the city in which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. It happened at the Lorraine Motel. The Museum is closed on Tuesdays, and we arrived after the typical 5pm closing time, but considering it was only a few days since the anniversary of MLK's death, the scene was unexpectedly quiet. With bad weather behind us, the temperature now in the 50's and the sun shining upon us, having only the sound of chirping birds seemed unrealistic within such an urban landscape. We didn't talk much - what was there to say? Dr. King is one of my heroes, and being here meant the world to me - not just another tourist stop to check off the list. I am now older than MLK was when he died. Disconcerting. I hope to place a copy of this photo beneath the poster of MLK that graces the northern wall of my classroom. I was there. For a reason.