HGTV / YouTube Erin Napier
Erin Napier of HGTV’s “Home Town” has lived in Laurel, Mississippi her entire life. As with many small towns, this means she knows about the goings-on of her community and is able to share in both the good times and the bad.
Yesterday morning, January 31, Napier shared a piece of this bad news with her fans and followers and asked for positive thinking. Napier wrote in her Instagram story, “I need you all to pray right now for a woman this city loves named Jan Walker. She is in a critical brain surgery with a daughter and husband and grandchild who are waiting and hoping for a miracle. Pray with us for her healing and wisdom for her neurosurgeon. Amen.”
Erin Napier did not share the specifics of Jan Walker’s condition and treatment for privacy purposes.
Jan Walker’s Daughter Appeared on ‘Home Town’
Although Jan Walker never appeared on “Home Town”, her daughter Caroline Burk made an appearance when she was moving back to Laurel, Mississippi with her husband Cory Burke. The two opened a menswear store, Guild & Gentry, in the heart of the town, and were hoping to find a permanent home for themselves and their future family.
The Burks appeared in season two, episode nine of the series, titled “Little Rough, Little Refined”. In the episode, viewers got to see the Burks purchase “The Ratcliff House”, but what they didn’t get to see is the backstory as to why they made this choice, which Erin and Ben Napier shared on their website’s blog in a post written by Caroline.
“I knew that house, because I’d always loved it,” Caroline wrote, “It was on my family’s drive to church, so I’d passed it at least six times a week for over a decade of my life.” Caroline let Cory know this special attachment to the home, and the couple had all but made up their minds when Caroline went out to lunch with her mother the next day.
While Caroline was at lunch with her mother, “a friend of my mom’s stopped at our table to speak. Rebecca Patrick and my mom went to college together, and after the usual pleasantries, Rebecca asked where we were living since we’d moved back, because her father’s house had gone on the market.” Patrick had pitched her father’s house, and although Caroline’s heart was set on the Ratcliff house, she agreed to check out Patrick’s father’s home. As fate would have it, Rebecca Patrick’s maiden name was Rebecca Ratcliff, and the house that she hoped Caroline may be interested in ended up being the very house that Caroline had already set her mind on.
Patrick later shared the same story for Laurel’s local publication, The Laurel Leader Call.
Erin & Ben Napier Highlight Laurel, Mississippi on Their Blog
Erin and Ben Napier clearly love Laurel, Mississippi, with their work on “Home Town” providing proof of their dedication to making Laurel a thriving town and community.
Earlier this month, the Napiers shared a blog post called “Visit Like a Local”, in which they recommended local hotspots for tourists who are hoping to get the full “Home Town” experience. While the post takes visitors to all of Napiers’ businesses (including Laurel Mercantile, Scotsman Trading Co., and Erin’s newest candle shop, the Scent Library), it also shares some of the Napiers’ favorite local businesses, museums, historical sites, and food trucks.
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