Hillbilly Elegy

Without Papaw to help her, that burden
seemed twice as heavy. In the months
after Papaw’s death, I remembered the
woman I found in an isolated corner of
Deaton’s funeral home and couldn’t
shake the feeling that, no matter what
aura of strength Mamaw projected, that
other woman lived somewhere inside
her.
So instead of retreating to Mamaw’s
house, or calling her every time
problems arose with Mom, I relied on
Lindsay and on myself. Lindsay was a
recent high school graduate, and I had
just started seventh grade, but we made
it work. Sometimes Matt or Tammy
brought us food, but we largely fended