On one of my last days in Ohio, I got to make a final pass down the roads that wind behind my childhood home. Through his husband’s social media, I realized that one of my dearest childhood friends was back in town from NYC, as well as his sister who I’d grown up with since kindergarten. I reached out with the excitement of our schedules overlapping, only to find that the reason for this chance timing to be that their father was nearing the end of his battle with cancer.
Just like the fatherly figure I’d known since kindergarten, Chuck was in high spirits on the day I paid a visit. I didn’t enter his room, but talked through an open window from the back porch. It was only after I left that I realized I had only said ‘hello’ and didn’t actually make any formal goodbye. But then, that ending seemed to be one matching his own optimism.
I didn’t have my good camera with me, but took this snap of his mailbox with my cellphone as I pulled out of his driveway. It was the sole Biden/Harris support I’d seen in all of my time driving around these roads; outnumbered by Trump flags and the occasional foul-language banners.
It made me think of some of the backlash recently launched after the release of Hillbilly Elegy. One of my own fears with documenting these country roads is that I’ll unintentionally fall into the same traps of simplifying a narrative and showing a one-sided perspective of rural Appalachia that reinforces negative stereotypes. And, while I have numerous personal experiences that align with such stereotypes; one should acknowledge that isn’t the only story, and also shouldn’t ignore the deeper, systemic issues that play a role in the heightened presence of poverty and addiction in this region.
As I sat outside of Chuck’s room, catching up with two of my oldest friends, we touched upon what it meant to be raised by these rolling hills where there were often cultural and ideological clashes. For me, it was the presence of this family that helped shape me into the unique form of who I am today. By way of example, I learned about tolerance, equality, and power of authenticity.
Thank you, Chuck, for being a light in this world.
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