Hillbilly Elegy

yet. After we moved back to
Middletown, he and Mom divorced, so
it wasn’t surprising that he rarely got in
touch. But my birthday was obviously
special, and I found it odd that he hadn’t
called. So I phoned and got the
answering machine. A few hours later, I
phoned once more with the same result,
and I knew instinctively that I would
never see Bob again.
Either because she felt bad for me or
because she knew I loved dogs, Gail
took me to the local pet store, where a
brand-new litter of German shepherd
puppies was on display. I desperately
wanted one and had just enough birthday
money to make the purchase. Gail