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parents are from Michigan and had lived there all their lives.
My dad was a mechanic and a carpenter and my mom worked for
General Motors as a photographer. My dad hated the winters
in Michigan; they’re just terrible. We lived right in
the middle of the suburbs and there were people everywhere,
constantly, twenty-four hours a day. And my dad wanted to
get away from that. We have relatives that live in North and
South Carolina and my dad traveled down here with my aunt
when he was about my age. Later, friends that he grew up with,
and had known all his life, moved to Asheville and he came
down here and visited them. He really liked it down here.
Big Laurel is about as far as you can get away from people
and the winters are not so bad. We had been down here to buy
land. We sold our house and moved into my aunt’s house
for a few months while my dad was building the house. And
then we had my little brother and right after that we moved
down here. My brother had his first birthday down here.
I was home-schooled until high school. There is a big home-schooling
community locally and we got involved with that crowd. People
invited us to different things – co-ops, clubs, and
birthday parties, going out to do things – and we started
to get to know people that lived around us. I was involved
in 4-H when I was little and that’s how I met a lot
of people. I’ve played soccer ever since I was five;
played all through high school and I really enjoy it.
My mom didn’t want us to have to ride on a bus for an
hour and a half to get to school; and she was willing home-school
my brother and me for most of our lives. I think that shows
what home is: that someone is willing to do that for you.
To teach you what they know, what you need to know for years
so that you will be a better person. To be at home and learn.
That was a great environment.
I remember my mom working in the garden and me and Evan would
have breakfast down there. We had this little tiny Playschool
picnic table, just a little plastic thing, that we must have
brought from Michigan. We would sit there and eat, and then
go play in the creek. Mom was right there working in the garden
and we would be outside having a good time. I did that for
years. There was really nothing to do but go outside and I
walked around. I learned as much as I could. I loved reading
when I was a kid. That’s all I did really, read and
go outside. That was my life as a child and I loved it.
I learned how big our place was. We have so much land that
I still haven’t been all the way around it. The few
flat places that we have are where the house is and where
the gardens are. We’re generally around in that area.
But the mountains go on for miles. I’ve walked around
it and it’s hard to imagine the scope of it. There is
always something new waiting around there.
I really feel connected to the land because I’ve spent
so much time outside in it, walking around and seeing all
the different things. I have so many memories of finding things,
trees everywhere, and little creeks in the middle of nowhere,
animals everywhere. I hope that it will stay that way, but
you never know.
A lot has changed since we’ve been here. When we first
moved here, it would take half an hour at least to get to
Mars Hill because of the old Murray Mountain highway. That’s
the only way to go - up the mountain and down the mountain.
It was pretty dangerous and there were a lot of tractor-trailer
accidents. Now, it has completely changed with I-26 coming
through. Things are just popping up. There’s a gas station
fifteen minutes away from our house. The places in Wolf Laurel,
the huge houses and the complexes, the restaurants, and there’s
going to be an airport up there. Mars Hill, Marshall and Hot
Springs are getting bigger. There’s going to be a Wal-Mart
and a Lowes in Weaverville.
Ten years ago you would see one car a day on our road. Now,
every weekend there’s cars and 4-wheelers coming up
the road. The mountain across from us was just bought and
they’re building seven new cabins on it, I think. And
that’s kind of good – new people, new things.
But then it’s kind of bad because it’s going back
to why we moved away from Michigan - because of people everywhere.
It just seems crazy because it’s still in the middle
of nowhere.
I think the changes are good and bad. It’s good that
we bring more economic growth into our county and that can
be done locally and not locally. But I think it’s bad
because it’s possible we could lose all of this. We’ve
got people in our community who were born, and raised, and
died here and we will lose part of their history. We’re
going to lose that Appalachian culture that’s so important
to us. We could lose the woods, the nature, wildlife, everything.
There does need to be limits on how much we can build here.
We don’t want Wal-Mart’s here in the middle of
the mountains. The convenience is nice, but at what cost do
we have convenience? Is convenience going to be how we live
our lives without making any sacrifices?
My first memory is of playing in my great aunt’s garden,
picking up rocks and looking for worms and stuff. But when
I think of home, I think of here. I think of our house in
the mountains. Driving up our roads. We’ve got such
a big attachment now, right here in Madison County, but our
extended family is all up in Michigan. Home is always going
to be back where your family is. Home is both Michigan and
here. It’s sort of like a dual home almost. You know,
everyone’s up there, but you live down here.
I don’t know if home is a static place. Home is where
you are. I think of rest and safety, and where you can lay
yourself down and live, and not have to worry about moving
around. It really is where you are at the moment. But I think
wherever you are, you’re going to hopefully feel some
safety and security, where you can be and just stay there.
Even if I was in Spain or Thailand, anywhere, as long as I
was in a safe spot, and connecting with people, I think I
could call that home.
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