Hillbilly Elegy

exited the shower one night before
bedtime, and I screamed and wailed as
if I’d just learned that my dog had died. I
calmed down only after Mamaw
relented and agreed that henceforth no
one would ever refer to Lindsay as my
“half sister” again.
Lindsay Leigh was five years older
than I was, born just two months after
Mom graduated from high school. I was
obsessed with her, both in the way that
all children adore their older siblings
and in a way that was unique to our
circumstances. Her heroism on my
behalf was the stuff of legend. One time
after she and I argued over a soft pretzel,
leading Mom to drop me off in an empty