The Great Blessings of Growing Up In Rural Kentucky

Great Blessings

I don’t know this young man but I read his post on Facebook and I just had to share it with you.

By Cory Lee

It’s no secret I grew up in rural Kentucky. I grew up playing sports, shooting guns, and driving four-wheelers. Every Sunday, I attended a Southern Baptist church. Kentucky is a place where you can find peace amidst your noisy life, and it’s a place where the word “ugly” describes someone’s behavior rather than their appearance. Two years ago, I moved to Rhode Island to attend law school. Since then, I’ve encountered a number of situations where my southern roots were mocked. Within months of moving to the northeast, two colleagues called me “trailer trash.”

When I wore my steel-toed boots during a rainstorm, another colleague called me a “hick.” During my second year, a younger colleague laughed as he called me and another colleague “hillbillies” because we were from the South. And just a few weeks ago, another colleague insinuated I should water down my accent because I sound uneducated. I used to take these remarks personally, and I even tried to “blend in” as best I could. Sometimes I would catch myself about to say something that would emphasize my accent, and I would remind myself to change it.

Small moments like that began chipping away at my roots. But lately, I’ve learned that my colleagues don’t understand what they don’t know. They don’t know that my hometown is overrun with methamphetamine and opioids. Or that I was the first in my family to attend college. Or that some of the kindest people in my hometown have very little, yet they would give everything to help someone. My colleagues didn’t consider someone’s entire story before casting their judgments, and that’s what makes them “ugly.”

Law school has taught me a lot, but perhaps the most important lesson I’ve learned is to not be ashamed of where I came from. I’m proud to be the son of a plumber and a scrub nurse, and I’m proud to come from a town that prides itself on its work ethic. If I didn’t acknowledge any of this, I would be dismissing the very things that inspired me to become an attorney. And if my colleagues reading this still have a problem with where I come from, well…bless your heart.

My Thoughts on Great Blessings

This post made me happy.

I don’t know why people have to make fun of someone who is different than they are. If I had to guess I would say it’s to make them feel better about themselves.

When you are born and raised in a small town there are so many great blessings you take for granted. Like the fact that everyone knows someone you know. And most people know your parents and grandparents and the house where you grew up. I wrote about that in another post called Small Town Girl.

I agree with the young man who wrote the post above. I love my hometown and the people who live here. They are the salt of the earth and I am have been blessed to know them all, raise my family here and have my grandchildren close by. Thank you Cory Lee for saying what so many of us feel about the great blessing of a country childhood.