I was near the end of a three-hour door-to-door campaigning session with my friend and volunteer, Mark Thien. The neighborhood was more than quiet that Wednesday night. One older lady who was home reasoned that most of the neighbors were at Bible study but we couldn’t help wondering if some in this blue-collar neighborhood were working a double shift. Indeed, few were home but we were happy to talk with those who were, and leave contact information for neighbors who would arrive home soon.
We were circling back to where we had parked the car when Dan from Maple Place came back down the street to talk to me about something.
“Hey Nancy,” he said, “I have a question! When are we going to get sidewalks up there on Broadmoor and on Dickerson Pike?”
“Every day, I see kids get off their bus, and do their best to make their way home without any sidewalks. It concerns me. We’ve never had sidewalks there.”
“And I know, because I used to be one of those kids.”
Dan told us that he had grown up in the neighborhood, left for a while, and returned get his own place. He’s now 45 years old and sees the same infrastructure — or lack of it — from his childhood. He looked down the street at a couple of school-aged children and repeated: “I was one of those kids.”
“I wanted a sidewalk to get to school over thirty-five years ago,” he said. “Why are these children still walking on the shoulder of the road?
My heart began thumping, knowing full well that his concern was valid.
His mantra echoes still: “I was one of those kids.”
It is time to stop the systemic neglect that he and others in some parts of District 8 feel. Nashville is better than this, It's time to write a new history.
Please join me in the first chapter with your vote for VanReece on Election Day, August 6.
See also:
Meet Nancy VanReece (July 10, 2015)
Rooftops (July 14, 2015)
Real Representation (July 23, 2015)