Hillbilly Elegy

kicking. Then the officer grabbed Mom
and carried her to the cruiser, and she
fought the whole way. There was blood
on the porch, and someone said that she
had tried to cut her wrists. I don’t think
the officer arrested her, though I don’t
know what happened. Mamaw arrived
on the scene and took Lindsay and me
with her. I remember thinking that if
Papaw were here, he would know what
to do.
Papaw’s death cast light upon
something that had previously lurked in
the shadows. Only a kid could have
missed the writing on the wall, I
suppose. A year earlier, Mom had lost
her job at Middletown Hospital after