Every girl looks forward to the day when she finds her prince charming, gets married and lives happily ever after. For me, along with this wish was a wish to one day be as strong as my ancestors. My family came to America in 1620 and has been living in the Appalachian Mountains fighting to thrive ever since. In this time, we have developed into a long line of very strong, very thrifty, survivors. That's a lot for a girl to live up to! The beautiful part of this is that my family is not alone. The Appalachian people are all generally very strong people who are very good at surviving. The women around here can hunt, fish and have dinner skinned and on the table before anyone barely has time to notice it. I have seen my great-grandmother cook up a dinner beside the river with what seemed like no resources at all and have it come out looking like a fancy Sunday dinner. These God fearing women can sew, hunt, fish, grow their own food, can food, chop wood, and protect their families when the need arises. You have to understand, were not living in the stone age. We have smartphones, use the internet, and love to look beautiful just like women anywhere else. At the same time, if a giant snow storm comes along and knocks out all the modern conveniences, life goes on. We can still keep our houses warm, feed our families, and be totally fine. This is the kind of woman I strive to be. Growing up in Appalachia, I am already well on my way. However we can always continue to grow stronger and smarter. When I'm an old woman I want my family to look back and say "wow, what a woman was she!" In this blog, I plan to share my story and a little bit of wisdom. Let's learn something and become strong surviving women together.
