Way Down

He had dreamt of Beale Street long before he ever saw it, from the stories Uncle Silas had spun, and his first view of it, at sixteen had not failed to live up to his expectations... he was drawn, it seemed, almost inexorably to Beale because "to me Beale Street was the most famous place in the South. We got in at five or six o'clock in the morning and it was pouring down rain, but we judt drove up and down, and it was so much more than I had ever envisioned. I don't know if I can explain it to this day-- my eyes had to be very big, because I saw everything, from winos to people dressed up fit to kill, young, old, city slickers, and people straight out of the cotton fields, somehow or another you could tell: every damn one of them was glad to be there. Beale Street represented for me something that I hoped to see one day for all people, something that they could say, I'm a part of this somehow." This was Sam Phillips' vision, and he kept it with him when he moved to Memphis with his wife and infant son some six years later. Memphis had drawn him like a magnet, but not for the elegant appointments of the Hotel Peabody or the big band broadcasts from the Skyway. It was Beale Street that lured him in a way he would never be able to fully explain and Beale Street with which, as it was, he could never be fully comfortable.
-Peter Guralnick Last Train to Memphis

We got the house up for sale two weeks ago and were fortunate enough to get two offers within the first three days, and we were unfortunate enough to have them both fall through. Now we have no potential buyers and a house that looks like a storage facility for Better Homes and Gardens. As my Memphis lifeline (or LBF 5.0) says "fate hasn't cooperated this much just to let you down." However, I fear it has. It is terrible to feel completely powerless, to know that we have done all we can and that it is out of our hands. This wouldn't be half as bad if we didn't have our dream apartment to lose. Whether we sell now or two years from now, South Main will always be there, but this apartment wont. I also feel guilty for worrying about such a petty problem and not counting our countless blessings. We have each other and a roof over our heads and a steady paycheck and a safe neighborhood and three of the best pets anyone could ask for and our health and a path to follow in life. I just wish I could be satisfied with those things until we get on our path.