I missed it

In summer 2001, I drove a moving truck across country with my buddy, Jeff Schnaufer. It was part of a massive effort to move my family from Los Angeles to Horseheads, New York.

Jeff and I made a few stops that were worth it: The Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, the Trail of Tears in Oklahoma and Arkansas. We also stopped at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., to see where Elvis had lived.

But now I realize the better stop in Memphis would have been the National Civil Rights Museum, which includes the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

I'm kicking myself now because I've realized that the museum was only a few blocks off of our route. Perhaps it was because our trip had an adhoc nature to it - we did sort of adlib our route as we crossed the country - perhaps it was not on my personal radar. I can't even remember if my friend Jeff had suggested the stop or not. Perhaps I simply have grown since then and have realized on a deeper level how important Dr. King's message was.

We were in Memphis a year before the museum unveiled its major expasion, but still it would have been worth it. One thing that made me more aware of it was the movie "Elizabethtown," during which the star, Orlando Bloom, makes a stop there and scatters part of his father's ashes at the site.

But also today, as I watched a documentary on Dr. King's life, I saw a clip of a tour group of kids going through the museum. They were brought up to the balcony at the motel where King was killed and shown a small square where he stood.

Then I realized why the trip there would be worth it: Anyone who stood in that square would be privileged to see what King saw in the last moments of his life.