Hillbilly Elegy

obliged.
Mamaw was old, frail, and sick. I no
longer lived with her, and I was
preparing to go fight a war. Though her
health had improved somewhat since I’d
left for the Marines, she still took a
dozen medications and made quarterly
trips to the hospital for various ailments.
When AK Steel—which provided health
care for Mamaw as Papaw’s widow—
announced that they were increasing her
premiums, Mamaw simply couldn’t
afford them. She barely survived as it
was, and she needed three hundred
dollars extra per month. She told me as
much one day, and I immediately
volunteered to cover the costs. She had