I don't know of many people who follow the news these days expecting it to give them warm and fuzzy feelings. Even so, it was a real gut punch when I saw a recent news alert about the demolition of RiverGate Mall in Nashville.

Since malls have been in decline for decades, it wasn't a huge surprise. That didn't make it sting any less.

If you're of a certain age, you may relate to this feeling. There was a time, not so long ago, when malls felt like the centers of the cultural and social universe in American towns across the country.

RiverGate was built in 1971, which means I have no memory of a time when it didn't exist. It was the closest mall to my childhood home in East Nashville, so my family spent a lot of time shopping there and at the businesses in its orbit while I was growing up.

In my teenage years, it was one of the places where my friends and I hung out. When I returned to Nashville for a few years as a middle-age adult, I still did some of my Christmas shopping there.

Even back then, there were signs the mall would someday be headed to the big closeout sale in the sky.

When I texted a........

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