Hillbilly Elegy

unexpectedly. He hadn’t lived with her
in years, so outsiders might imagine that
her death was easier to bear. Those folks
are wrong. People like Brian and me
don’t lose contact with our parents
because we don’t care; we lose contact
with them to survive. We never stop
loving, and we never lose hope that our
loved ones will change. Rather, we are
forced, either by wisdom or by the law,
to take the path of self-preservation.
What happens to Brian? He has no
Mamaw or Papaw, at least not like mine,
and though he’s lucky enough to have
supportive family who will keep him out
of foster care, his hope of a “normal
life” evaporated long ago, if it ever