Hillbilly Elegy

aunts, uncles, and cousins who hadn’t
been part of my life in years, the basic
segregation of my two lives remained.
Dad avoided Mom’s side of the family,
and vice versa. Lindsay and Mamaw
appreciated Dad’s new role in my life,
but they continued to distrust him. To
Mamaw, Dad was the “sperm donor”
who had abandoned me at a critical
juncture. Although I, too, resented Dad
for the past, Mamaw’s stubbornness
didn’t make things any easier.
Still, my relationship with Dad
continued to develop, and so did my
relationship with his church. The
downside of his theology was that it
promoted a certain segregation from the