Meredith Mashburn Photography

Dad,
I made you a bouquet on the day we all said goodbye.
I woke early and went to a wildflower field, gathering every pretty little thing I thought you would love. When I got home, it didn’t feel like enough, so I wandered through my garden and gathered every pretty little thing there, too. “Stealing from my bees,” I thought in a fleeting glimpse of a thought. But for you, Dad, I would steal from them. I wish I could have done more.
You once said, in your final days, that you wanted to live 200 years. I heard you say it to a dear friend, and I wish you could have. I wish you could have lived in a body that wasn’t failing you, disappointing you, and taking pieces of you away.
So I plucked every pretty little thing I could find—for you. Because that was all I could do.
We gathered together. We told old stories and opened our hearts. We played Willie Nelson’s “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” and remembered you.
Dad, you were a man of cowboy ethics—a sinner and a saint, brilliant and contrary, complicated and wholly yourself.
And I loved you.
I still do.

Wake up with gratitude for a new day. Walk with purpose and generosity. Live it to the fullest.

As I submit to god in all areas of life - I see where he is shining his light on me. The kingdom connections - the mercy and the grace he shows me every single day brings me to tears. As my faith grows in trust, humility and love his presence increases. I am thankful beyond measure for gods love and guidance in my life and am thankful for this journey. What will unfold today?

Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.

Painting my walls white and feeling the need for a purification- god led me to the garden where I began to prune the roses in the heat for no real reason known. I realized that Jesus was talking to me in his way. “My child you don’t need a purification - you need a pruning.” John 15, God the Father (the gardener) prunes every branch that bears fruit so it can become even more fruitful. This isn’t punishment, but a loving process of removing things like distractions, bad habits, or unhealthy attachments to maximize spiritual growth. When I say good is working on me and pruning me - I mean it! What can feel like a punishment is really a true testament of his love. It’s important to remind ourselves when we go through these stages in our lives where we are being pruned, that it’s not forever and it is for our best and highest good! I am grateful for this journey. I am greatly grateful for God!

My journey in deepening my connection to Jesus has been long. I visited many places of worship along my path - I was being shown. I was seeking. Honestly I excepted to find a certain level of hypocrisy, exclusion and judgment. I did find these things, however it wasn’t as widespread as I had imagined in my mind. What I was not expecting was the open hearts , safe spaces for vulnerability and culture of grace. I was being shown the word of god. How to walk in faith and what being Christlike really means. Everyone who seeks a deeper relationship with Jesus will have a testimony. I am thankful for this journey.

In a world that seems so heavy and dense- I welcome gods presence. Today, I felt a joyful renewal when just before my baptism, today in church, I saw a hummingbird flutter in front of my front door. Some would dismiss it as a coincidence, but I believe it was a sign from God. A sign of hope and renewal that I so very much needed. I stand in the knowing that God is speaking to me in a variety of ways every day, and as I grow closer to God, God grows closer to me. Seeing a hummingbird right before a baptism is often viewed as a beautiful spiritual sign of divine blessings, joy, and new beginnings. The tiny, resilient bird symbolizes the Holy Spirit, emotional renewal, and the promise of grace and protection as the individual begins their new faith journey. Blessed.

As a photographer, I spend most of my life moving — from highways to backroads, from one town to the next, chasing light, stories, and the quiet character that makes a place feel alive. After a while, you learn that every town has its anchor. The place where locals gather without thinking twice. The place woven into everyday life so deeply that outsiders can feel it the moment they walk in.
In Russellville, Arkansas, that place was Feltner’s Whatta-Burger.

Places like this matter more than people realize. Not because they’re famous, but because they’re familiar. They hold decades of ordinary moments — after-school conversations, first dates, road trip stops, coffee refills before work, families sitting in the same booths year after year. As someone constantly passing through towns I’ve never seen before, those places are often what make me feel grounded too. They remind me that every community has a rhythm, a history, and a heart.

Walking into a restaurant like Feltner’s, camera slung over my shoulder, you could immediately tell it wasn’t built for tourists. It was built for the people who call Russellville home. And somehow, those are always the places that leave the deepest impression on travelers like me.

The closing of Feltner’s feels like more than the loss of a restaurant. It feels like the dimming of a landmark that quietly held a community together for generations. The sign, the booths, the conversations, the familiar faces — they become part of the visual memory of a town.

Fifty years of songs… and he’s still the one thanking us.
In a world that moves fast and forgets faster, some people stay. They root themselves in a place, in its people, in its stories and become part of its soul.
Jed Clampit is one of those people.
From the first time he stepped onto the stage at George’s in 1974, he’s never chased fame or fortune only connection. Just a man, a guitar, and a room full of hearts that somehow leave a little lighter than they came.
He’s played across continents. Touched countless lives. Soundtracked weddings, grief, love, and everything in between. Not for recognition—but because it’s who he is.
And now, the man who gave so much is facing health and financial challenges.
This isn’t charity.
This is coming full circle.
“If we look out for each other, we are all good.”
If his music ever found you—if you’ve ever been in one of those rooms—this is a chance to give something back.
🔗 Link in bio to support Jed
Because legacies like his aren’t built alone.
They’re carried—song by song, person by person.
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