Heavy Heart

By now, I trust you've heard about the mine disaster at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia.

Earlier this week, I told my husband that the families could've been describing my grandfather**: man of God, family man, hard worker, humble. He had survived an accident when my Mom was just a little girl. His back was broken and he was in the hospital for a year. His doctors told him he couldn't return to the mines. He told them, "I've got babies to feed."

Still today, miners have babies to feed. So they go into the deep, dark bowels of the earth to mine the coal that provides energy for about half of the United States so we can turn on our lights, heat and cool our homes, cook food, wash clothes, watch our TV's and browse the Internet.

In the coming weeks and months, fingers will be pointed and blame will be spread, mostly, I suspect, to the mine owner, Massey Energy Company.

People who aren't from coal country will wonder why on earth men would go back to work in coal mines, given the danger. The short, blunt answer is, there's not much here. Steel mills across West Virginia have been closing for the past 10 to 20 years to the point where there's hardly any left. Good luck finding manufacturing jobs, save the Toyota Plant in Buffalo, where, when they began accepting applications, thousands of people applied. Teaching jobs are dwindling with the consolidation of schools. State jobs are ok, but it all depends on who you know. Most people are looking for jobs that will provide a decent living. It's a sad state of affairs when Walmart is one of the largest employers in the state. Who can raise a family on minimum wage?

Much has been said about my state and my people. I can tell you that I am so proud to be a West Virginian today. I am so relieved that the media has portrayed my people with honesty, showing how hard we work and how strong we are and how we dig down deeper in our faith in times like these. Thankfully, the myths of the ignorant hillbilly have subsided and the honesty and beauty of these people have touched the hearts of people from everywhere. I'm thankful for that. It's what I've known all along and is partly what keeps me here.

Please continue praying for the families of the fallen miners. Pray for peace, comfort and healing for them. Please pray for the brave men who came to rescue their comrades. Their hearts need healing, peace and comfort, too.


**The mines didn't immediately kill Pa-paw. He died of lung cancer and Black Lung in 2006.

Books for WV Children

Go here to give books to WV children: http://www2.firstbook.org/whatbook/

We've moved up from 3rd on the list to 1st! Keep voting once a day until September 15th.

Just so you know....

The bit below about West Virginia was copied from an email I'd received several times.

I was just so tired of all the banter about how the ignorant, uneducated, blue-collar workers who are poor here in West Virginia* wouldn't vote for a black man for president.

Or, the news story that was probably only reported within the state, of how a Clinton volunteer caller, thinking that she had disconnected, left a message on someone's voice mail, saying to what one could assume was another volunteer, that the person she had just called didn't pick up, "probably because they thought I was a bill collector. People in West Virginia are poor. Very, very poor."

And I'm not even going to get started on that one.

Or, the blogger from New England who lamented the question, "Why is Hillary being articulate in places like West Virginia?" What? Is she supposed to walk on stage and say "Hey, Y'all? How ya doin'?" She is running for President of the United States, for cripes sake. Isn't she supposed to be articulate? What? Do you think we can only understand someone who talks with a southern drawl?

What "news" agencies like CNN, Fox, etc., don't know is that there are other reasons why people here may or may not support a candidate, but it's so much more sensational to portray the people here as backwards hillbillies, they don't even research the Real Reasons.

Unfornately, Yellow Journalism is still a very current problem. Yet, the American public doesn't seem to notice. Scary.


*Their words, not mine.

Our Home

There are a LOT of misconceptions out there about West Virginia, a lot of which have been highlighted during the primary elections here. Frankly, I have been tired of the stereotypes out there for a Very. Long. Time.

I would hope that the reason people see West Virginians the way they do is because they are ignorant. They simply do not know what life is like here in West Virginia and they certainly don't know what the people here are like.

John Denver got it. That's why the first words of his song start, "Almost Heaven. West Virginia..."

Because of our mountains, we have rivers. The oldest river in the Western Hemisphere, the New River (quite appropriately named, don't you think) ends in West Virginia. We have the Gauley River, which confluences with the New River in a magnificent cascade to form the Kanawha River, which in turn flows through the center of the State, and directly through the capital city of Charleston, the largest city in West Virginia. These rivers in addition to the Cheat, Blackwater, Tygart, Monongahela, Ohio andcountless others offer tremendous recreational opportunities.

The tallest building in Charleston is 25 floors tall,which, if you think about it, is a plus; how could you possibly build a skyscraper more beautiful than a mountain?

The capital city stretches throughout the long river valley encompassing both hill and dale. The Charleston airport, the largest in the State, sits on top of a mountain. The crime rate in Charleston, including the entire population of the Kanawha Valley (around 200,000), reflects that of the entire State, the lowest in America. No more than a handful of murders are committed each year.

Charleston has no subway systems, but, truth be known, you can get from one end of town to the other, even in rush hour traffic, in less than ten minutes. There are three major interstate systems going through Charleston, the smallest city in America to make such a claim.
The entire State has six different interstate systems, meaning, from Charleston, you can reach Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Louisville or Charlotte in four hours or less....

Ah, but once you leave the interstates, the drive becomes a thing of wonder. Two lane roads, winding up and down the mountains, offer amazing views and historic places, small towns, poor in wealth but rich in history. West Virginia is the birthplace of Mother's Day, in Grafton; and Father'sDay, in Fairmont.


We have the oldest covered bridge still in use. We have walnut festivals, strawberry festivals, apple festivals, pumpkin festivals and buckwheat festivals; arts and crafts fairs, sternwheel regattas and ramp dinners.

We have Bridge Day on the New River Gorge Bridge, over 800 feet above the New River, the only standing structure in the United States that, one day a year, allows parachuting and bungee jumping.

We have college basketball, and minor league baseball and hockey, and, just like all of America, Friday night high school football.

We have white water rafting, and skiing, and hiking, and caves, and waterfalls, and camping in every direction. We have Sundays where a leisurely drive in the car can take eight hours, and only cover 100 miles.

We have bed and breakfasts, and resorts, and golf courses, and museums, and the Greenbrier Hotel. West Virginia has more natural beauty and wonder than any person could ever imagine.

We have all of this, and yet our greatest asset is our people. West Virginians are good people. We care about each other. We talk to our neighbors over the backyard fence. We grow tomatoes for the entire neighborhood. We turn around in each other's driveways, and yell, "howdy" when we do. We sit on the porch on warm summer evenings, listening to crickets, and watching kids catch fireflies.

We loan a hammer, or a cup of sugar. We don't take two-hour lunches, but we do spend a few minutes each day with a cup of coffee, shooting the breeze.

We rarely get in a hurry. We have relatives just down the street. We don't just loan someone a socket wrench, we help them fix their car. We share recipes, and gardening tips, and our last cup of coffee. We baby-sit each other's kids, we housesit each other's dogs while we're on vacation, and we loan each other our cars if we have to get to the drugstore. We ask each other if we need anything as we're going to the market.

We celebrate each others accomplishments, and we cry over each other's disappointments.

We are a friendly folk. We are West Virginians. Mountaineers are always free! Free to take the time to enjoy life, and hold each moment in our hearts, forever.

If you are proud to be a West Virginian, then pass this on.