Hillbilly Elegy

then on. Now that I’m a lawyer, I marvel
that we never considered a medical
malpractice suit against the doctor who
operated unnecessarily on her back. But
Mamaw wouldn’t have allowed it: She
didn’t believe in using the legal system
until you had to.
Sometimes I’d see Mom every few
days, and sometimes I’d go a couple of
weeks without hearing from her at all.
After one breakup, she spent a few
months on Mamaw’s couch, and we both
enjoyed her company. Mom tried, in her
own way: When she was working, she’d
always give me money on paydays,
almost certainly more than she could
afford. For reasons I never quite