Meeting the Mayor, originally uploaded by lightwriter27.

I had an assignment to cover a press conference at the Shelby County Cemetery. The conference was kicking off a week-long focus on infant mortality, and running along the edge of the cemetery was a sub-division. As the press conference continued, this group of kids started to converge to the stage as kids do when they see any kind of commotion involving a stage. The kid on the right, Garrett, walked from the farthest point of the cemetery, just be bopping along without a care in the world. A couple of the people attending the conference chuckled to themselves watching him cut across the cemetery.

So, this group of 4-5 boys, ages between 10-16, stood around and listened to the problems of infant mortality in Memphis for the last half-hour of the conference, but really enthralled them was the fact that the mayor of Shelby County, A.C. Wharton was present. They were dumbstruck about it. Garrett pulled me aside and asked me, “So, is that REALLY the Mayor?” quickly followed up with, “What’s his name?”

They patiently waited for the moment to meet with the Mayor Wharton, and they got to meet him and get a photo taken with him. I kind of pre-visualized how I wanted to try to sneak a chance to snap this moment while I trying to find other little moments more geared for my assignment. So, this was kind of a shot in passing, but it’s more or less how I saw it play out in my head. It’s always fun when life happens as you visualize it.