Review: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

A couple of times this year, a friend of mine and fellow West Virginia native, Bill Easterly, recommended the book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and a Culture In Crisis by J.D. Vance as a book I should make every effort to read. Dr. Easterly, J.D., and myself have a common Appalachian heritage and the book’s title definitely had me intrigued. An elegy, according to Google is synonymous with a lament, a requiem, a dirge, or a threnody—those are all words that are not in the common American vernacular—a more wordy definition would be a passionate expression of grief or sorrow or maybe to use a biblical analogy, a jeremiad.

I anticipate the book will gain greater traction in the months ahead as I noticed the author being invited to speak on multiple major news outlets about the recent election and the role that individuals from poorer communities in the Rust Belt and the Bible Belt played in the most recent Presidential election and why these historically Democratic communities have been shifting over the last few decades to a Republican base.

The book is mix of memoir and social commentary. The characters are all comprised of J.D.’s family members and is partially a biography as seen from the eyes of Mr. Vance and researched further through interviews with members of his family. It is partially a narrative of the daunting challenges, frustrations, and traps that people in Appalachia experience as part of their daily existence. It’s also a story of overcoming the odds and how J.D. made it from Middletown, Ohio into the Marines, onward to Ohio State University, and even further onward to Yale Law School.

But it is more than that. It is a first-hand account of Appalachian family values like honor and doing one’s best to care for one’s family and resilience in the face of adversity. It’s also an account of just why so many people feel down and out and how the opioid crisis is wreaking havoc in poor communities in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. It’s about feeling out of place as a first generation college student, and feeling even more out of place among the wealthy and elite. It’s about discovering that the ‘normal’ of one’s upbringing seems like a complete anomaly in the world of Ivy League education and the ‘normal’ of that education seems like life on another planet for folks from our common backgrounds.

This quote sums up J.D.’s life experience as well as the lives of many others I know, including myself when I think about how life could have turned out.

I was able to escape the worst of my culture’s inheritance. And uneasy though I am about my new life, I cannot whine about it: The life I lead now was the stuff of fantasy during my childhood. So many people helped create that fantasy. At every level of life and in every environment, I have found family and mentors and lifelong friends who supported and enabled me.

There’s so much I want to say about the book and about J.D.’s thoughts about how to improve things in the heartlands of America, but I’ll simply say that if you grew up in Appalachia I believe you will find many of the stories extremely familiar.  If this wasn’t your family’s direct story, you knew this story. I sit here trying to process it all; I just can’t find the words to articulate all of the ways this book stirred me. The language was direct, accessible, and familiar throughout the book. J.D.’s insecurities, anxieties, and trials were not all directly relatable but they definitely had a strong sense of familiarity for me as I think back on the neighborhood where I grew up—a neighborhood where not many finished high school or even thought about college, and where my graduating class lost 20% of its enrollment between the end of my junior and senior year of high school.

More than anything though, as I read, I found myself filled with a deep gratitude for the fact that both my wife and myself had incredibly supportive nuclear and extended families, neighborhoods, and church communities, that protected us, mentored us, supported and guided us because they wanted us to have a better life and more opportunities than they had. If you grew up in Appalachia you know J.D.’s story well (though probably not as well as this first-hand account), and if you weren’t blessed to be able to grow up here, you might better understand some of the cultural complexities and challenges and triumphs of this part of the world by reading his book. I highly recommend Hillbilly Elegy to anyone, but especially my friends who are also first generation college students from this part of the country.

Reflection: Veterans Day 2016

Each year on or around Veterans Day (and many other holidays) I like to pause to reflect on the day--its meaning and how and why the day is observed in our culture. Since the advent of social media, Veterans Day in particular becomes a day for a collective pause. I see updated profile photos of many of my friends as they take time to remember with pride their own time of service and the people they had the opportunity to serve with. Families take time to remember and honor their relatives who made commitments of service to this country. For those who have retired, who are no longer alive, and for those who are still serving, the rest of the nation turns its eyes, thoughts, and attention to the incredible acts of service of these men and women.

Over the course of my adult life, I have had the privilege of serving in various roles with and learning from many veterans. First and foremost would likely be my Uncle Bill. who served in the Army long before I was ever born. My Uncle Bill has always demonstrated the value of serving others first. He and his late wife always practiced hospitality and generosity when we would visit his house, and even today, I know that none of his family or friends ever lack when their is a need. When I go back home, I always strive to make time to visit him and listen to the amazing stories of service and witness the example of this 82 year old relative.

In addition to Uncle Bill, another veteran I had the privilege of learning from and being mentored by was the late Chief of my tribe, Joseph Raincrow Neale. Okima (which I always called him out of respect). He served in the US Navy during WWII, and was not only an incredible spiritual leader and mentor, but was a wonderful role model with regard to service, discipline, respect, and honor. He was hard but fair, stern but compassionate, and resolute but gracious. He taught me much about what it means to give of one's self and to never relent when it comes to hard work. He also demonstrated one of the most wonderful relationships with Jesus that I had ever seen. He set the standard for what it means to be a human being. He was a real human being.

And over the last ten years or so I've had the privilege of working directly with a friend of mine from my freshman year of college, a fellow West Virginian, who felt a strong call to serve, transferred from WVU to the United States Naval Academy, and served as a Force Reconnaissance Marine before launching an organization dedicated to eradicating extreme poverty and making this world more stable and safe for everyone, Nuru International. Jake has done an incredible job of bringing together a team from both the civilian and veteran community who are fiercely committed to servant leadership and bringing meaningful choices to our global neighbors.



Across every area of my life, I have had the privilege of rubbing shoulders with a number of veteran men and women, and I am constantly impressed with the discipline, courage, commitment, and tenacity that each one of them continues to bring into their daily lives. Whether it is my friend Marta who recently transitioned out and is looking for new opportunities to serve, my friend Raphael who is steadily reminding fellow Americans that their citizenship demands service, or my friend Matt who works two jobs to support his family and provide a future of hard fought freedom for his children, they each continue to bring a steadfast and resilient commitment to service and overcoming challenges into every area of their life--and exhorting others to do the same.

On Veterans Day, we remember the fallen, those who are still down range, and those who have transitioned into so-called 'normal' life. Businesses and individuals offer their thanks for service and applause for sacrifices that only a small percentage are willing and able to make, but I wonder if there is a stronger and more meaningful gesture. What if more of this world operated by a code of honor? What if more men and women chose to live their lives with an others first mentality? What if we chose sacrifice-over self indulgence? What if we chose to emulate the example of those few who have set aside their own comfort for the sake of their fellow humans? To me, I feel like that would be the best gesture of gratitude that could be bestowed upon those who have served, those who have fallen, and those who are still down range.

May we each aspire to live courageous lives of sacrifice, service, courage, and commitment, and may we demonstrate honor and respect as we seek to build a better world, together. 

Our Mon General Hospital And Women's Healthcare Experience

As our daughter Sylvia came into the world, Jamie and I had the distinct privilege of a weekend getaway at hotel Mon General. While we didn’t take advantage of all of the amenities offered to us during our stay, we were really impressed with the facilities as well as the staff—they were incredible.

For starters, the staff of Women’s Health Care of Morgantown were phenomenal. Midwives Rhonda Conley and Stephanie Lowe did an incredible job of caring for Jamie throughout her delivery, and Dr. Shane Prettyman gave prompt congratulations to Jamie and myself moments after her delivery. If you are going to have a child and you live in this area, I highly recommend the team at Women’s Healthcare of Morgantown. Not only were they great during the final stages of pregnancy at the hospital, but also, Rhonda, Brook Ann, Stephanie, and the entire team at WHC were encouraging and gave solid answers to all of our questions throughout Jamie’s pregnancy. Mon General has been very wise to contract with them for delivering babies too!

And then, what can I say about the nursing staff at Mon General! Jennifer Bender, our nurse on the day of Jamie’s labor, stayed an extra two hours plus at the end of her shift to see us through to the finish. She and the rest of her team offered solid counsel and helped Jamie really get started strong with breast feeding. Kiley Everson and Stephanie Smith offered wonderful care and guidance during the rest of our stay. As mentioned briefly in a previous post, Stephanie gave me a quick tutorial on diaper duty—if only she could see me now!

Other nurses came in to help us out as well, but I did not get all of the names. One nurse even coached us through all of the details around how to place Sylvia properly in the car seat, and showed us the special tool on the back of our car seat that is used for older vehicles That tool will come in handy when we are traveling to other locales and we can’t just “click in” our seat to a base.

The housekeeping and food service staff were also phenomenal. Each one of them was highly congratulatory of myself and Jamie, and we loved that they offered healthy choices on the menu. They even prepared a special meal for us to celebrate the arrival of our child. I had a steak and Jamie had chicken cordon bleu as the main course for our meal.

While we know that every day will be a learning experience with Sylvia, the entire team at Mon General and Women’s Health Care did their best to make sure we were as prepared as possible for the road ahead. We are grateful for their support and encouragement over the 42 weeks of jamie’s pregnancy and the two days of our stay at the hospital.

Disaster Response Efforts In West Virginia Update: How Can You Help?

In late June, many areas in the southern part of West Virginia were hit with tremendous flooding. Homes were swept away. Family members were lost or injured. The waters were indiscriminate in sweeping through towns and bringing rapid destruction and damage to thousands of homes. And as the waters subsided, the people of our state began doing what we always do, rolling up our sleeves and helping one another out. People were working together to ship cleaning supplies and toiletries to those hard hit areas.

One of the best volunteer organizations that I have discovered when it comes to disaster response, and one which I would recommend to anyone looking to deploy, is Team Rubicon. The leadership of Team Rubicon has been trained in crisis and disaster response while serving in the military, and they bring all of that training and leadership into every disaster to which they deploy volunteers. One of the most challenging parts of disaster response for those who want to support is coordinating efforts. They require all volunteers to complete some online training modules before they deploy in an effort to ensure that all volunteers are fully equipped to make their punches count. I fully recommend signing up as a volunteer not just for the response that is needed now, but so you are equipped and prepared to deploy the next time an unexpected disaster strikes. Jamie and I also created a fundraising page with Team Rubicon to support their efforts. Will you consider donating? Jamie and I support Team Rubicon because we believe in the leadership, we are impressed by the staff, and we think they have a very coordinated and regimented training and disaster response program that gets veterans and civilians together to live out some of the best qualities of citizenship and service.

There's still lots of work to be done, and more and more people are launching initiatives to support. WVU Alum Ken Kendrick contributed matching toward raising funds for WVU Extension. Brad Paisley donated toward a Go Fund Me page to encourage others around the country to pledge their support. Jennifer Garner launched a campaign with Omaze to raise money through t-shirt sales for Save The Children's efforts to help children in those communities hardest hit. Jim Justice opened the Greenbrier resort to families in need. All over our state, people have rushed out to purchase supplies and make donations of various types in response. 

I have a few friends who have traveled down to support friends and family members directly, and ALL of them have come back stating that one of the greatest needs presently is simply manpower, and will be for the foreseeable future. Our state needs people to volunteer their time to respond to the cleanup needs. Universally, organizations are discouraging people from deploying on their own, but there are lots of groups out there to serve with. If you can, mobilize with a group that is already organized, if you are unable, then support efforts financially to help equip others to get out there. It is some dusty, dirty, muddy, mucky work, and your contribution, at whatever capacity will be appreciated.

Whatever you can do to help, do it! If you have time and skills that can help with the response in southern West Virginia, deploy with a reputable group and serve. If you are not available to help directly, or you can’t donate goods like those listed on the United Way website above, donate to an organization you know does great work! I am incredibly proud of the way people in our state have rallied to support these efforts, and I know that my fellow West Virginians will always make the best out of a difficult situation. We are a resilient community, a community that supports one another, and one that holds firmly to a commitment to service.

Recent Flooding In West Virginia And What You Can Do To Help

Over the last few days, my home state has been hit with massive amounts of rainfall which has led to intense flooding all over the state, but some of the worst areas have been in the southern half of the state. Entire towns were under water, and some people have even lost their homes.  I watched as my social media feed was filled with images and videos that my friends were capturing as they watched the waters roar. 

The waters have largely receded now, and now comes the cleanup. The cleanup is not what people typically imagine. People think about gathering scattered debris, or wiping down some surfaces in homes that remain intact, but it is so much more. I grew up on the Ohio River. There is a floodwall that surrounds my hometown of Parkersburg, West Virginia. In my lifetime I can only remember a few times that the floodwall was sealed off. The longest time was during the flood of 1985, but even just a few years ago, the waters rose high enough to cover most of the small park that exists outside the floodwall where the Little Kanawha and the Ohio Rivers meet. As the waters receded, the park area was covered with mud and muck that was about 2 inches deep. The fire department was deployed to wash the mud off the walkways and roads of the small park, otherwise, it would have remained muddy, mucky, and nasty.

 

When my dad was growing up, the floods seemed to come annually to the small house he and his siblings grew up in along the same stretch of the Ohio River. They would evacuate, and then return when the waters had receded. He remembered having to get snakes out of the house that had washed in with the flood waters, or which had slithered their way in to a place of temporary shelter. And then it was time to get to work clearing out the mud and the muck, and trying to discern what was salvageable.

That same scenario is being lived out by thousands of West Virginians right now. Their homes, if they were not washed away, may be damaged beyond repair. Some of these people live outside what is considered to be the flood zone for their area, so there are questions about whether insurance will help them recuperate their losses. And they need to wait for a visit from the insurance agents to help them discern.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Right now, people are dealing with the immediate. They are working with groups like Team Rubicon and other first responders to begin the massive cleanup, to conduct search and rescue operations for missing people. There are still people unaccounted for, and there are more than 20 dead. Forty-four of this state’s 55 counties were declared in a state of emergency.

In a moment like this, it is easy to wonder what a person can do to help. The desire is there for most of us, but there is also a degree of uncertainty. There are shams being created to exploit people’s generosity, and there have also been rare instances of looting in the wake of this disaster. But that’s not the way of most of the people of this state, or of this world. We want to help, and many of us make assumptions about what is needed, many relief workers call this a “second disaster.” This is where good intentioned people send items that are of little or no use to the people in need. In this instance here in West Virginia, first responders and relief workers have done a great job being extremely specific about needs. West Virginia University students have an incredibly organized website and volunteer effort to collect needed material donations. If you can, donate some time to help organize resources to be sent to the areas of need.

If you live further away, you can donate to organizations like the United Way, Red Cross, or Team Rubicon to support disaster response efforts. Personally, Jamie and I chose to give to Team Rubicon’s flood response efforts. This organization is led by former Marines, and they are bringing their crisis response training to deploy volunteers in chaotic environments in an organized way. They are not only bringing their skills into the environment, they are also providing both civilians and other veterans an outlet for continuing to use their training to serve others. In every interaction I’ve had with their staff team and volunteers I have been fully impressed. In fact, as full disclosure, Jamie and I have also signed on to be volunteers and receive training.

Whatever you can do to help, do it. If you have time and skills that can help with the response in southern West Virginia, deploy with a reputable group like those listed above and serve. If you are not available to help directly, or you can’t donate goods like those listed on the United Way website above, donate to an organization you know does great work! I am incredibly proud of the way people in our state have rallied to support these efforts, and I know that my fellow West Virginians will always make the best out of a difficult situation. We are a resilient community, a community that supports one another, and one that holds firmly to a commitment to service.

Introducing A New Member To #TeamWilliams And West Virginia’s Newest Citizen!

 For Jamie and I, West Virginia’s birthday has always been a very special day. As passionate natives of this state, and as alumni of West Virginia University, one could argue that it is only natural that we have such a rich love for our home state and for these wild and wonderful West Virginia hills. It was a Father’s Day six years ago and West Virginia’s 147^th birthday, that I asked Jamie to marry me, and in the spirit of that rich tradition, we have another announcement to make on West Virginia’s 153^rd birthday. This fall, Baby Williams, will emerge to greet the world!

We are incredibly excited to meet this miraculous child! We have been hopeful throughout our marriage that God would provide Jamie with a child, but we also held the attitude that if He didn’t, we could potentially adopt, and we were already blessed to be surrogate aunts and uncles to many of our friends’ children. Jamie has a health condition, poly-cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), that led to an irregularity with her menstrual cycle, and also contributed to an inability to have a menstrual cycle without taking estrogen. Jamie knew that taking the medicine would also prevent her from having a child, even if she did have a menstrual cycle, and so she began studying ways that she might be able to improve her likelihood of having a cycle naturally (healthy food choices, exercise, rest), and of course we both (and many of our friends and family) have been fervent in prayer.

Earlier this year, Jamie noticed a gap in her cycle, and she ordered some pregnancy tests, just in case. She has been taking similar tests for the last couple of years, and while we have always been hopeful, we have never centered our focus on having a child. We have placed our hope in God using our lives to bring Him the most honor, and to best serve our global neighbors. When Jamie took the test, she was shocked, surprised, and questioning the validity of the tests, so she took a second one. It came out the same, we even considered having me take a test as a control just to be sure they actually worked (must have been the chemist and exercise physiologist in us!). These tests are incredibly accurate, and we are going to be parents!

This child, even before touching down on the earth has been all over the world. This child has been to four national capitals (Washington D.C., London, Paris, and Addis Ababa). This child has star jumped with its mother in London, Paris, and Acadia National Park. And soon, this child will arrive in Morgantown, West Virginia to greet this world.

Jamie and I are overwhelmed with joy when we think about the fact that God has given us this privilege. We have found ourselves more keenly observant of the world around us, and the little treasures that surround each of our days. And we are filled with trepidation in the same way every parent from Adam and Eve to this day has been—we are responsible for a fully vulnerable life. Every parent, no matter how many books they read or how many classes they take on the subject, questions how they will steward this gift, and prays daily for wisdom and grace from above. 

This child will rely on us for every one of its needs, and then over time a mysterious metamorphosis will take place. One day, by the grace of God, this child will be engaging us and others in conversation, and will also grow to be someone who is able to serve, to bless, to protect, and raise up another generation.

This fragile human being is beginning a life that, God willing, will see him or her grow to be a compassionate servant leader, a faithful steward of resources, and caring and considerate follower of the way of Jesus. We have found ourselves praying often for this child to know God and to bring glory to His name, that he or she would go so much farther than we have in our own faith journeys, and that others, would be blessed through the life this child leads.

We are so grateful to be able to share this wonderful news of a new West Virginian emerging this fall, and we are in awe of the fact that Jamie has this amazing privilege of carrying a new life in her body. We also know that the gift of giving birth is not a guarantee to every person, and we were both at peace if it was not a grace bestowed upon us. As we continue this journey forward we pray that just as we have prayed over the course of our marriage and relationship, that God would give us the discipline and wisdom we need to steward the gifts He has given. May we all faithfully and graciously walk together in the path that Love has set before us.