Hillbilly Elegy

frighten us into sleep.
The surrounding mountains were
paradise to a child, and I spent much of
my time terrorizing the Appalachian
fauna: No turtle, snake, frog, fish, or
squirrel was safe. I’d run around with
my cousins, unaware of the ever-present
poverty or Mamaw Blanton’s
deteriorating health.
At a deep level, Jackson was the one
place that belonged to me, my sister, and
Mamaw. I loved Ohio, but it was full of
painful memories. In Jackson, I was the
grandson of the toughest woman anyone
knew and the most skilled auto mechanic
in town; in Ohio, I was the abandoned
son of a man I hardly knew and a woman