My Hometown

Hello, Monticello, here I stand in front of the sign welcoming all to Lucy, Tennessee, my hometown, in fact, my childhood home is only a few yards from this sign.

Lucy is about 12 miles north of Memphis. I am there for the wedding of my only niece, Stephanie.

As far as I know I never found out why the town of Lucy was named Lucy. It once was a stop for the Illinois Central Railroad “City of New Orleans” which is now a 16 hour overnight train from Chicago to New Orleans which slips through Lucy in the middle of the night. Several houses built by the railroad sit beside the track in Lucy.

They have a general store, a school, and several churches and yes, a small lake. When I googled “What to do in Lucy, Tenn.,” the response was “Sorry, we could not find any results.” This past weekend the Baptist church celebrated a 145 year anniversary.

During my childhood there, the county library would send a book van to Lucy and that is where my adventure began in the pages of books. Through the library, we country kids could travel around the world, learn about other cultures and interesting people.

This week I will travel to New York City to visit my childhood friend, Judy, who has lived in The City since we were teenagers. I read the New York Times as a teenager in our school library, but never dreamed that I would someday visit there every couple years.

Hope all is well with everyone and see you soon, JJ