Hillbilly Elegy

remember sitting on Mamaw Blanton’s
lap as she read Bible stories aloud
before the sun came up, and I remember
stroking the whiskers on her chin and
wondering whether God gave all old
women facial hair. I remember
explaining to Ms. Hydorne in the holler
that my name was “J.D., like jay-dot-
dee-dot.” I remember watching Joe
Montana lead a TD-winning drive in the
Super Bowl against the hometown
Bengals. And I remember the early
September day in kindergarten when
Mom and Lindsay picked me up from
school and told me that I’d never see my
dad again. He was giving me up for
adoption, they said. It was the saddest I