It was in repairing a foundation that had completely decayed as a result of flooding, or repairing rotted walls, or a collapsing roof was when I came to understand the culture and values of Appalachia, in addition to my own culture. The bare minimum structure of a home revealed the complex truth of the situation many of the families were in. Before this point I simply did not understand or even notice how a collapsing home could be valued like it was to the people who owned it. They valued it because they had so many memories there and every morning they could see the sun rise over the mountains before they saw anything else. I came to understand that it is not what we have that is important at all, but the pleasure we are able to find in our surroundings. After a period of time I came to feel that the best parts of my day was the people around me and seeing the leaves of the trees swaying with the breeze. As long as you are getting through the day and finding how to make it fulfilling and satisfying to you, what else matters?
Now that I am no longer in Appalachia, I am distracted from a beautiful blue sky, but I find the same fulfillment and value in other ways. At the end of the day, we are looking for the same thing and we can find this fulfillment and purpose in more ways than one.
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