Everyone has a story, a series of pivotal moments that shoved their life down a different path. Some stroll leisurely, hand in hand with good fortune, down streets paved with gold. Others can’t seem to make a right turn before they’ve thoroughly vetted all the wrong ones. Others still, by no fault of their own, get propelled onto paths wrought with pain and adversity.

As we’ve gotten older, we’ve learned the ones who were dealt the worst of hands are often the ones who radiate positivity and pour kindness into everyone around them. It’s not the famous who deserve the spotlight, it's the ordinary people we pass in the grocery store or sit beside at ball games who do. We’ve made it a mission to seek out these people and share their stories.

This is Jamie Nixon.

The Professional

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The Protector and Provider

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The Friend

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The Overcomer.
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In October 2021, Jamie was hospitalized after battling COVID at home for 10 days. For two weeks, while his body fought to stay off a ventilator, Jamie’s spirit teetered on the edge of defeat.

“It’s definitely a spiritual experience to feel the opportunity to give up completely,” says Jamie. “All I had to do was stop breathing.”

But Jamie’s spirit proved stronger than his body that day. Even as those around him on the COVID floor were passing away, Jamie stayed strong and won.

“My daughter was getting married, and I wanted the chance to walk her down the aisle,” Jamie recalls. “My son had just bought a house, and I wanted to see the inside of it.”  

In short, he had a bunch more life yet to live.

This was no surprise to anyone who knew Jamie, though. He’d spent his whole life refusing to be a statistic. From a child born into adversity to a man defined by his triumphs, he has continually refused to yield to his circumstances.

The Cycle Breaker.

“The moment from my childhood that sticks with me the most is when I watched my father be abusive to my mother in public,” Jamie says. “I was 10 years old at the time, but there were four or five grown men who just sat back and watched him do it.”

That episode was one of countless similar occasions. Jamie describes a childhood wrought with abuse, chaos and uncertainty at the hands of his alcoholic father.

“I remember hiding my sister in the closet while he was beating my Mom,” Jamie says. “We moved around all the time because we kept getting evicted. I can’t tell you how many times we came home and the lights were cut off, or our stuff was out in the yard because we were being kicked out.”

The hand Jamie was dealt wasn’t meant to last, though. With a twist of fate and big move to (literally) greener pastures, at 13 years old he found himself in a new world.

“In 8th grade, I moved from Old Hickory to Cross Plains to live with my oldest brother,” says Jamie. “He became my father figure, and that changed the whole trajectory of my life.”

Jamie, a talented basketball player, found himself under the guidance of East Robertson High School Coach David Collie, who would also soon become a parental influence and lifelong friend.

The opportunity to change his environment was much more than just a secure homelife and positive patriarchal examples. Jamie thrived in his new rural surroundings, learning to work in tobacco fields and appreciating the slower pace of life. He continued playing basketball in high school, and landed a scholarship to play college ball at Dyersburg State followed by Cumberland University a few years later.

The foundation he built during that time would hold him above what he endured as a young child and create a barrier that kept any possible inherited “demons” at bay.

“I saw what addiction did,” says Jamie. “I saw my Mom having to pick up the pieces every time. I was also very aware that addictions can be hereditary.”

A few of Jamie’s five siblings weren’t so lucky. They went down a different turn off the path, succumbing to chemical dependencies. In 2022, Jamie’s family lost a brother, sister and niece, all to addiction. Losing three loved ones in one year took a toll on Jamie and his family.

“I started questioning everything and evaluating what I wanted to achieve,” says Jamie. “Am I doing enough? I started making more deposits than withdrawals into the people around me.”

Jamie got to work on making his world a better place, including giving back his talents to the community that pulled him up when he needed it. He runs the East Robertson Athletics Facebook page, dedicating as much time as he can to as many of the school’s sporting events.

He eventually rekindled his relationship with his father and forgave him for all his wrongs before his passing in 2001.  

Jamie says the culmination of his life experience can be summed up fairly simply:

“I feel like it’s all been a series of monumental moments where God is just trying to get my attention. From my childhood, to COVID, to all the loss I’ve experienced, it’s pushed me to be better and do better.”