Hillbilly Elegy

on the phone with Don Bowman, my
biological father. It was a short but
memorable conversation. He asked if I
remembered wanting to have a farm with
horses and cows and chickens, and I
answered that I did. He asked if I
remembered my siblings—Cory and
Chelsea—and I did a little bit, so I said,
“Kind of.” He asked if I’d like to see
him again.
I knew little about my biological
father and barely recalled my life before
Bob adopted me. I knew that Don had
abandoned me because he didn’t want to
pay child support (or so Mom said). I
knew that he was married to a woman
named Cheryl, that he was tall, and that