Hillbilly Elegy

my first line of defense, even before
Mamaw. She made dinner when she had
to, did the laundry when no one else did,
and rescued me from the backseat of that
police cruiser. I depended on her so
completely that I didn’t see Lindsay for
what she was: a young girl, not yet old
enough to drive a car, learning to fend
for herself and her little brother at the
same time.
That began to change the day our
family decided to give Lindsay a shot at
her dreams. Lindsay had always been a
beautiful girl. When my friends and I
ranked the world’s prettiest girls, I listed
Lindsay first, just ahead of Demi Moore
and Pam Anderson. Lindsay had learned