{"id":23774,"date":"2025-04-01T13:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T13:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/?p=23774"},"modified":"2025-04-01T13:07:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T13:07:02","slug":"letter-from-the-editor-6-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter From the Editor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

THE SOUNDS of the self-checkout registers beep <\/em>through the entire store. The short lines of people with baskets and carts move across the reflective tile like a conveyor belt and out the door. Uh, oh<\/em>. A man at the checkout stood frozen. The total amount due on the screen was higher than he knew was on his card. He had to decide what to put back: something he needed or something for his grandkid. His hand hovered over the items, trying to decide quickly so the people behind didn\u2019t notice. Luckily, the woman behind him did <\/em>notice. Before he could speak, the woman behind him quietly passed him a few dollars. No hesitation, no grand speech \u2014 just a simple nod and a kind smile that said, \u201cI\u2019ve been there too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moments like this don\u2019t make headlines, but they are what makes a strong community. Empathy isn\u2019t just about understanding someone\u2019s struggle \u2014 it\u2019s about moving toward them. It\u2019s choosing to help, even in small ways. It\u2019s listening when it would be easier to roll your eyes, huff, and walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empathy in motion is the teacher who stays after school to help a struggling student. The small business owner who donates meals after a storm. The neighbor who checks in just to say, \u201cHow are you doing?\u201d These aren\u2019t grand gestures, but they are the moments that build something lasting \u2014 connection, trust, and the kind of community where people show up for each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what this issue is about: people who don\u2019t just talk about kindness but live it. Their stories remind us that empathy is not passive \u2014 it\u2019s an action, a decision, and a way of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in a world that often feels divided, empathy is what keeps us together. It reminds us that our stories are connected, that we belong to each other, and that none of us are truly alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you turn these pages, may you be inspired to move \u2014 to listen, to step forward, to choose compassion. Because when we walk in each other\u2019s shoes, we walk forward together. And that is what makes a community. GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE SOUNDS of the self-checkout registers beep through the entire store. The short lines of people with baskets and carts move across the reflective tile like a conveyor belt and out the door. Uh, oh. A man at the checkout stood frozen. The total amount due on the screen was higher than he knew was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nLetter From the Editor - Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letter From the Editor - Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE SOUNDS of the self-checkout registers beep through the entire store. The short lines of people with baskets and carts move across the reflective tile like a conveyor belt and out the door. Uh, oh. A man at the checkout stood frozen. The total amount due on the screen was higher than he knew was […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-01T13:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-01T13:07:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Wesley Bryant\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Wesley Bryant\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Wesley Bryant\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/404d9329dd00384caa2b09327fe71dae\"},\"headline\":\"Letter From the Editor\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-01T13:07:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-01T13:07:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":370,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Untitled-design.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Letter From the Editor - Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Untitled-design.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-01T13:07:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-01T13:07:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/404d9329dd00384caa2b09327fe71dae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Untitled-design.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Untitled-design.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Letter From the Editor\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange\",\"description\":\"Celebrating Good News, Big or Small in Tullahoma, TN\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/404d9329dd00384caa2b09327fe71dae\",\"name\":\"Wesley Bryant\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7511ffea9b3339ed72ad649f3e59aa8da1abe0bb3b2beb8e51db39ca1476a57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7511ffea9b3339ed72ad649f3e59aa8da1abe0bb3b2beb8e51db39ca1476a57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7511ffea9b3339ed72ad649f3e59aa8da1abe0bb3b2beb8e51db39ca1476a57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Wesley Bryant\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goodnewsmags.com\\\/tullahoma\\\/author\\\/wesley-bryant\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Letter From the Editor - Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Letter From the Editor - Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange","og_description":"THE SOUNDS of the self-checkout registers beep through the entire store. The short lines of people with baskets and carts move across the reflective tile like a conveyor belt and out the door. Uh, oh. A man at the checkout stood frozen. The total amount due on the screen was higher than he knew was […]","og_url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/","og_site_name":"Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange","article_published_time":"2025-04-01T13:07:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-01T13:07:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Wesley Bryant","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Wesley Bryant","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Wesley Bryant","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/#\/schema\/person\/404d9329dd00384caa2b09327fe71dae"},"headline":"Letter From the Editor","datePublished":"2025-04-01T13:07:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-01T13:07:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/"},"wordCount":370,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design.png","articleSection":["Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/","url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/","name":"Letter From the Editor - Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design.png","datePublished":"2025-04-01T13:07:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-01T13:07:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/#\/schema\/person\/404d9329dd00384caa2b09327fe71dae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design.png","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/letter-from-the-editor-6-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Letter From the Editor"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/#website","url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/","name":"Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange","description":"Celebrating Good News, Big or Small in Tullahoma, TN","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/#\/schema\/person\/404d9329dd00384caa2b09327fe71dae","name":"Wesley Bryant","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7511ffea9b3339ed72ad649f3e59aa8da1abe0bb3b2beb8e51db39ca1476a57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7511ffea9b3339ed72ad649f3e59aa8da1abe0bb3b2beb8e51db39ca1476a57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7511ffea9b3339ed72ad649f3e59aa8da1abe0bb3b2beb8e51db39ca1476a57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Wesley Bryant"},"url":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/author\/wesley-bryant\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23775,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23774\/revisions\/23775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}