Hillbilly Elegy

There were (and remain) many who
lived by my grandparents’ code.
Sometimes you saw it in the subtlest of
ways: the old neighbor who diligently
tended her garden even as her neighbors
let their homes rot from the inside out;
the young woman who grew up with my
mom, who returned to the neighborhood
every day to help her mother navigate
old age. I say this not to romanticize my
grandparents’ way of life—which, as
I’ve observed, was rife with problems
—but to note that many in our community
may have struggled but did so
successfully. There are many intact
families, many dinners shared in
peaceful homes, many children studying