Ties to Appalachia

                Ask me for my ties to Appalachia, I will instantly draw a blank. Give me a moment to think, I can give you a little. Give me a few days, I can gather a few bits and pieces more. This was asked of me, and I fought through a minor battle to gather fragile little threads of the fabric that are my ties to Appalachia. Granted, they may not be long; granted they may not be much, but they are still ties nonetheless.

                Upon asking my father of his little pieces of history, he was rather careless and kept repeating how he was from Detroit. I sensed a bit of confusion emitting from him, so I was forced to expand my questioning. I asked why he and his family moved to little old Preston County. With this look that clearly said that I should already know this, he informed me of how the family already had land here. He, obviously sensing my confusion and seeing my curiosity, went on to tell me how his father had decided to move up to Detroit to try the city life. My father was rather bored with the topic by this point, so I was forced to quickly ask some quick questions that would give me access into a little more of the history. Through the fog of my family’s history, I was able to uncover the fact that my great-grandfather was a miner of sorts with cousins in the same occupation. One of my great-grandfather’s cousins was apparently a welder who traveled to various mines. And thus ended the interrogation into the Italian part of my heritage, leaving me hungrier for more than I was before.

                Now, that was only one side of my history. It takes two beings to create a new one, correct? So, I tried to dig up the other side of my heritage and all but failed. I was able to discover that my mother’s family had lived in Preston County for some generations. And they were also German mixed with some other flavor that I couldn’t unravel. I found some hints at more members, but I was uncertain if the sources of the Internet were reliable or not, so I settled with what I found. For now.

                I took the liberty to expand on the concept of ties to Appalachia. My step-family has been part of my life for as long as I can recall. So, I decided that this entitles them to have claim to part of my Appalachian heritage. I turned to my step-mother and demanded some history from her. I discovered that the males in her family were all basically submerged into the grains of Greer. She gave me some stories of how, as a wee girl, she would wait by her door for her father to return from the limestone mine basically every night. Then, she went into a state of nostalgia and I could gain no more.

                So I give you my ties. I give you what I know. I have more to unravel. I have more to weave back together. I have so much more to learn. But here are the glimmers of the past I have. Here are the little ties. That is all I have to show.

~Chandra