Hey y’all;

This is how we talked in Memphis, when I lived in Memphis. I did love living in the Memphis area; Collierville, TN actually. There was the ever present heat most of the year, I learned from the locals to spend the height of the day in doors and an appreciation for the ‘dew rag’ and tank tops.

The lovely town was the entire reason for living there. We had investigated a dozen towns within a fifty mile radius of Mike’s job. There were contenders, towns with the charm and warmth we sought. One town notably (Kennett, Missouri) was neither warm nor charming. The houses were run down, the city itself was lack luster and the realtor made it clear that a: this was the hometown of their beloved Sheryl Crow and b: new people were not really desired. Quite a shock compared to the kindness and grace of all our other realtors. This was for the best because from the moment we drove through Collierville, I knew we were home. The town square was a perfect example of a 1840s town. It was one of the few towns in western Tennessee not decimated by the Civil War. The town square was the vibrant hub of all activity in town. We went to the square for ice cream, for coffee, for pet food, for the fruit and vegetable stands, musical events and more. Every Christmas, the square was decorated so beautifully with lights and ornaments. Every Halloween it becomes a haunted place. There was a sense of place there.


This is an artists's rendition of the Collierville town square. It doesn't really do it justice, but it is enjoyable to look at occasionally and remember our time in Collierville and I cannot locate my photographs of it. Actually most of the shops are on the viewers side of the square. To the left (east in reality) is a gas station straight from the 1920s or 30s that is still used today. To the right (west) is a western wear shop (!?!) and hardware that have bearly moved beyond sawdust floors (how devine).


At the southwestern corner of the square stood my favorite place of all, an antique store that contained all of the lace, linen and iron treasures I could want. It was called ‘The Cats Meow’ and it was owned by Miss Lisa Williams (that’s what we say Miss Lisa, Miss Mary, etc.) About a dozen cats made their home at the Cats Meow. Nothing was ever so precious that the cats weren’t allowed to nap on it. The cats came and left as they pleased and all along the square, you would see small bowls set outside of the shops. Some put out milk, some cat food and still occasionally some put out meat or hotdogs. I found out later that these cats were all orphans that Miss Lisa had taken in, everyone on the square all helped out with the foundlings. I discovered that this is the way people were in Collierville. In my hometown up north if a shop-owner decided to take in a dozen cats there would be an injunction within a week and some people might even suggest commitment. The animals would be shipped off to an antiseptic life in a shelter after being thoroughly inoculated. The shop-owner probably also would need to be inoculated and screened for fleas, ticks, rabies, etc. There surely would be a story on the evening news about the scary, strange woman who is disrupting the lives of others. In Collierville, the generous spirit to individually help others is joyfully encouraged, no one ever questioned whether to adopt the cats, they just did it. Who couldn’t love a place like that?