The People’s House
The People᧙s House:
I᧙ve always heard the phrase the people᧙s house. Until the passing of Loretta Lynn recently, I thought for sure that phrase always referred to the White House in Washington D.C. I think however, that another place needs to be considered as a place the common man and woman can go to as a place to approach, tell their stories and connect with folks found on the highways and by-ways of the America we know.
Storytellers come to this place in hopes of hitting the highlights of the American Dream. Writers walk the streets up and down Music Row praying that their stories will get heard, written and connect to so many folks working those 40 hour weeks.
I guess that᧙s what those old country songs did. They connected the common people to the stories of the every day life that so many lived.
My Momma and Daddy absolutely loved country music..because they connected with it. They knew the hard times of life and the highlights of the good times. When the corn meal was sprinkled on the dance floor of that river house, the volume was raised and the laughter and stories would commence. My Daddy would dance and we would too. All was right with the world.
Country music and the stories contained inside that sanctified circle at the Ryman Auditorium told their stories as well as the stories of so many millions of people just like them. Tomorrow the story of Loretta Lynn will be celebrated here in Nashville. The life of a simple country girl who just told the stories of her life will wind through the halls of the Grand Old Opry as a page in country music turns. She just told her stories. She didn᧙t think she would be famous, but through that fame she gave us chapters in our own lives that we knew.
That᧙s why I had to be here. I had to help celebrate the life of a storyteller. Tomorrow at the Opry Nashville will celebrate little Loretta Webb.
I᧙m no Loretta, but I do like to tell occasional stories from everyday life. Stories that I hope people connect with᧦I hope you are one them.
And as I sit tonight on the Front Porch of the sanctified steps of the Mother Church of Country Music , I can᧙t help but think that just maybe Loretta might just be sitting there too᧦
Y᧙all have a good night from the steps of the Ryman
