Hi there! I am an Appalachian woman who has tackled the social issues of my region both personally and professionally. My story is like many others, but I have chosen to bring the secret traumas out of the dark hollers where most wish it would stay.
Hills and Hollers
I grew up in the hills of West Virginia. Our hills and hollers hide secrets that the outside doesn’t always see. We are resilient people who make the most of very little, since our land has been raped and destroyed over coal for more than two centuries. We have given up our land and our opportunity to those who promised us an easier way of life. Our history is sad but our present and future is worsening. Some of us live up to every one of the stereotypes of Appalachians but many of us are different. We have just let you keep your opinions of us because it keeps us isolated just the way we like it. This has costs us more than we realized. That is what has driven me to bring the secrets into light.
This picture was taken at Blackwater Falls in Davis WV, which is one of our many beautiful state parks.
Secrets and Trauma
I moved away from West Virginia in 2006 hoping to never look back. Hating my home and everything it stood for; I wanted to give my children a better chance at success. Embarrassed of the poverty, addictions, family trauma, and denial of my people, I ran for more than a decade. I returned with hope that it had improved. I likened it to going off and leaving a sink full of dishes for a week expecting them to be clean. Nope. Mold is covering my dishes and the only way to get them clean is to roll up my sleeves and tackle them one at a time. That’s what I decided to do when I moved back. I began to work in Social Services, and I educated myself to the best of my ability. After several years, I realized it would take more than rolling up my sleeves.
I want to bring light to an issue that most may not realize hide among our hollers and hills. I hope to use my stories, my personal encounters, and other’s stories to expose our needs. The people of the region will do the work, I know them, I am them. They need the opportunity to show what they can do for themselves and for each other.
We are leading the country in drug addiction and overdoses, cancer diagnosis, and children in foster or kinship care and I encourage you to check it out for yourself. Visit: http://dhhr.wv.gov
These secrets have been rooted deep within since first settling in the mountains.
Would you like to tell me your story of growing up in Appalachia? Send me your ideas and click on the link below to find my contact information.
https://kle.sxx.temporary.site/wp-admin/post.php?post=39&action=edit
And check things out at:
Almost heaven, West Virginia
Song by John Denver
Blue ridge mountains, Shenandoah river
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze
Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain mamma
Take me home, country roads