I am on a roll catching up with all of these. My Dad never fished a day in his life until I turned 7. We started a routine, hit the best donut shop in town for hot chocolate and donuts and hit the pier to toss some shrimp into the gulf. We didn't really know what to do with the fish when we caught one but we figured it out. Man I love my Daddy. No hate in my heritage as well!
i find im both jealous and wish i could hug you. i was the kid the other kids rejected with the trash family and the queerness etc. i have precious few good childhood memories. running away to the bookstore that had ten cent scifi paperbacks and comic books i wasnt allowed to have when my parents were fighting. finding an action figure of my favorite character and managing to hide it from my mom until i was 18. going to shows. my dogs. thats it. so theres the jealousy part. i wanna hug you for trying to help make it so theres no more of me. good piece thank you
You are somewhat younger than me (by several decades) and a good 80 miles NW, but I can't tell you how reassuring your words often are - because I hear in your words, mostly the south I grew up in. I've seen/heard/lived the same stereotypes - I know they are sourced in a great deal of truth, but they aren't the only truths of growing up southern, and the ones I hold dearest are the one that include rather than exclude. Making the purple hosta blooms pop, digging up moss under the pines and crabapples to build fairy forts, riding our bikes along the edges of the golf course none of our parents could afford to be members of; and yes, letting the screen door slam at the corner store, where every penny or nickel or lucky quarter we might have found walking two and from school would be spent on zots, sweet-tarts, and if you were lucky that week and found 2 quarters, a cold bottle of Yoo-hoo from the cooler. Or when every family trip in the car started with a wax-paper lined shoebox full of Grammy's biscuits made three ways; with butter, with cheese, and with country ham, (6 people, 18 biscuits, and the big thermos of coffee.) Same treat whether it was the 2 hours to Monroe or the 4 hours to Blue Ridge, or the 6 hours to Savannah.
It's been a long time for me - but every time I read or listen to you, you bring it right back. I'm an old woman - you make me feel young again, sir.
You are such a good writer that when I read this I hear your voice with that twang in my head. God has blessed you with many gifts & one is your ability to make people think. I know, I know, you’re a comedian, a very good one I might add, but you are a peacemaker. You urge people to focus on what’s right, fair and realistic. I did not have the childhood you had, but my childhood made me acutely aware of the person I wanted to be and the world I wanted to live in. I want everyone to have your childhood & I want to help create that world. Your videos, tweets and articles remind and reinforce me. As a Southerner myself I must tell you that you represent us well. There’s a whole lot of wisdom behind that twang. Thanks for your hard work. Did you write this 2 nights ago when you were going sleep med free for the 1st time in a long time? Just checking…you are loved…
Corey, Big thanks for this from a northern girl in New York State. My favorite childhood memory is my Dad pitching a pup tent in the back yard so me & my friends could "camp out" & spraying us with the hose when it was hot because there wasn't a pool or a pond nearby to cool off in. Everybody deserves to have a childhood like ours. To be made to feel safe & loved exactly the way they are. As a species, we have a long way to go in learning to live with & cherish each other exactly the way God made us. Thanks again for this & God Bless!
I am on a roll catching up with all of these. My Dad never fished a day in his life until I turned 7. We started a routine, hit the best donut shop in town for hot chocolate and donuts and hit the pier to toss some shrimp into the gulf. We didn't really know what to do with the fish when we caught one but we figured it out. Man I love my Daddy. No hate in my heritage as well!
i find im both jealous and wish i could hug you. i was the kid the other kids rejected with the trash family and the queerness etc. i have precious few good childhood memories. running away to the bookstore that had ten cent scifi paperbacks and comic books i wasnt allowed to have when my parents were fighting. finding an action figure of my favorite character and managing to hide it from my mom until i was 18. going to shows. my dogs. thats it. so theres the jealousy part. i wanna hug you for trying to help make it so theres no more of me. good piece thank you
You are somewhat younger than me (by several decades) and a good 80 miles NW, but I can't tell you how reassuring your words often are - because I hear in your words, mostly the south I grew up in. I've seen/heard/lived the same stereotypes - I know they are sourced in a great deal of truth, but they aren't the only truths of growing up southern, and the ones I hold dearest are the one that include rather than exclude. Making the purple hosta blooms pop, digging up moss under the pines and crabapples to build fairy forts, riding our bikes along the edges of the golf course none of our parents could afford to be members of; and yes, letting the screen door slam at the corner store, where every penny or nickel or lucky quarter we might have found walking two and from school would be spent on zots, sweet-tarts, and if you were lucky that week and found 2 quarters, a cold bottle of Yoo-hoo from the cooler. Or when every family trip in the car started with a wax-paper lined shoebox full of Grammy's biscuits made three ways; with butter, with cheese, and with country ham, (6 people, 18 biscuits, and the big thermos of coffee.) Same treat whether it was the 2 hours to Monroe or the 4 hours to Blue Ridge, or the 6 hours to Savannah.
It's been a long time for me - but every time I read or listen to you, you bring it right back. I'm an old woman - you make me feel young again, sir.
Absolutely beautiful.
Next Shelby Foote or Roy Blount Jr.
You are such a good writer that when I read this I hear your voice with that twang in my head. God has blessed you with many gifts & one is your ability to make people think. I know, I know, you’re a comedian, a very good one I might add, but you are a peacemaker. You urge people to focus on what’s right, fair and realistic. I did not have the childhood you had, but my childhood made me acutely aware of the person I wanted to be and the world I wanted to live in. I want everyone to have your childhood & I want to help create that world. Your videos, tweets and articles remind and reinforce me. As a Southerner myself I must tell you that you represent us well. There’s a whole lot of wisdom behind that twang. Thanks for your hard work. Did you write this 2 nights ago when you were going sleep med free for the 1st time in a long time? Just checking…you are loved…
Corey, Big thanks for this from a northern girl in New York State. My favorite childhood memory is my Dad pitching a pup tent in the back yard so me & my friends could "camp out" & spraying us with the hose when it was hot because there wasn't a pool or a pond nearby to cool off in. Everybody deserves to have a childhood like ours. To be made to feel safe & loved exactly the way they are. As a species, we have a long way to go in learning to live with & cherish each other exactly the way God made us. Thanks again for this & God Bless!
Thank you for this!! Go Braves!