Hillbilly Elegy

even more bizarre behavior. One day
when I was about twelve, Mom said
something that I don’t remember now,
but I recall running out the door without
my shoes and going to Mamaw’s house.
For two days, I refused to speak to or
see my mother. Papaw, worried about
the disintegrating relationship between
his daughter and her son, begged me to
see her.
So I listened to the apology that I’d
heard a million times before. Mom was
always good at apologies. Maybe she
had to be—if she didn’t say “sorry,” then
Lindsay and I never would have spoken
to her. But I think she really meant it.
Deep down, she always felt guilty about