The Appalachia I Know

Hollywood's humanitarians are showing an interest, missionary's have been trekking along its hills and hollers for years. I was born and raised in the heart of it. I watched a 20/20 special the other night on the Appalachian mountains, this is a subject close to my heart. Diane Sawyer was correct when she said " When your born into these mountains,it's always in your blood".

No matter what television portrays the people of Appalachia to be,they will never zoom in on any of the good and hardworking people,instead they flock around looking for anybody with two first names (Jim Bob,Gerry Dale etc.) and at least six kids and they all live in a one bedroom makeshift trailer. And the mother of the family is thirty six with eight grand kids....To me, it's like when CNN goes straight to the trailer park after the tornado touches down and hopes they get a quality interview....
Ain't gonna work........

I know so many hard working people, people who have almost worked them self's into the grave,like my dad who started working in the coal mines at the age of twelve, and now only twenty nine percent of his lungs are functioning because of coal dust. Bodies so riddled with arthritis turning the pages of the bible are impossible. From years of hard work and long days where darkness falls early and the sun comes up late. Its a life that a lot of people can't comprehend,they just turn a blind eye at the ignorant backward mountain folk.. But not all these people are what they seem to the "out side world". Most Mountaineers are a stubborn and prideful people, taught to work hard and never look for a handout, people who start working when the sun comes up and stop when sun goes down.
Every time I go home to visit my family I pass by place after place of run down homes and closed store fronts, towns that once were but are just empty shells. Homes that should not be lived in but are...Children that have to learn early about how tough life can be...Some people don't take to kindly to those who move away...They see us as thinking we are better than them...we are not...Just looking for a better life for our children...Jobs are scarce and if coal mining isn't in your blood than your options are few. My brothers choose to follow my Dad's footsteps,one brother was injured and the other still crawls around underground to support his family. The life is hard and you can tell it on the faces of those who live it everyday. For everyone that works, there's one that is on welfare or drugs,and the children suffer greatly. No matter what television portrays Appalachia People to be,you can never appreciate the beauty of some of its people or the tranquility of the beautiful mountains.Besides,some of my favorite people are there.


One of my favorite things to do is to take a short ATV ride from my parents house to a place called High Knob...It's like traveling back in time... to a place that's magical...riding past remnants of what once was, you can see the fence rails from old home places,chimneys that still stand tall. When you get to the top you can see forever. breathe air so clean and crisp that you long for it when your gone. That's the Appalachia that stays in my heart...