Hillbilly Elegy

store in town sold out. It was expensive
and, as I was only two, unnecessary. But
Lindsay still remembers the day wasted
searching for the toy. Mom somehow
received a tip about a stranger who was
willing to part with one of his Ruxpins at
a significant markup. Mom and Lindsay
traveled to his house to fetch the trinket
that stood between a child who could
barely walk and the Christmas of his
dreams. The only thing I remember of
old Teddy is finding him in a box years
later, his sweater tattered and his face
covered in crusted snot.
It was the holiday season that taught
me about tax refunds, which I gathered
were free bits of money sent to the poor