AngieMutter.txt

-n -n -n [SOUND] >> Hello? >> Yes, is Angie Mudder there please? >> Please. >> Angie, this is Randy Norris. I'm the person that came up with Sean Philippe and we did the Women of Cow Book. Well, you're the last person I didn't get to interview you. And I needed to just go ahead and do a telephone interview with you. And I wanted to find out when it would be convenient for you. >> Well. >> Is now good? >> Well good, I'm all hooked up. [LAUGH] I've got my, I will tell you now that I am tape recording you. And if you could give me your full name and your address. >> Okay, right now? >> Yeah, yeah, just go ahead and- >> My full name is Angela Maria Mudder, that's N-U-T-T-E-R. >> Mm-hm. >> And my mailing address is Grundy Virginia. >> Mm-hm. Okay, and I'm gonna do this the same way I did all the other interviews, which is, we're just gonna, now as I understand it, you moved into the co-fields from, was it Atlanta? >> Well, I was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. >> Okay, and how long have you been in the co-fields? >> Well, I haven't been here that long, it's over four and a half years. >> Okay, well, we're really excited about, I'm glad I got you on the phone and I'm gonna get to do your interview because your picture is the only one we have with like a bunch of kids in it, and it's a really great picture, by the way. And so, as I understand it, you're not still doing the storytelling hours? >> No, after my second child, I stayed home. >> Okay, well, how I will label it though, I'll put down there, storytelling hour or storyteller, Buchanan County Public Law, okay. And well, the way that we did the other interview was, we're really just answering three broad questions. And in your case, the first one won't apply, which is what was it like growing up in the co-fields? >> [LAUGH] >> And now, is your husband from the co-fields? >> Yes. >> Okay, so that's your connection then, okay. >> I met a dozen people from Grundy when I was at Virginia Tech. >> And so- >> And all I heard about was Grundy Virginia. >> And I was like, I've got to find out about this place and my college roommate was from Grundy and she brought me here. And I was like, wow, this is so different than anything I've ever seen. >> [LAUGH] >> Who would have thought I'd end up living here? >> And you met your husband while you were there in Grundy? >> He was at that, he and my roommate were classmates. >> Uh-huh. >> The high school. >> Uh-huh. >> Yeah. >> And she introduced you to him. >> Yeah. >> Well, that's great, and you were going to Virginia Tech. >> Mm-hm. >> And now did you graduate from Virginia Tech? >> Yeah, I graduated from Virginia Tech. >> And your degree was in? >> Because in communication studies. >> [LAUGH] Well, then you should be able to do a telephone interview. >> I know. >> [LAUGH] Okay, and now you have an undergraduate. Did you do any graduate work? >> I went to graduate school and just for a short period of time, I went for two semesters in education. That's where I went back to get my teaching certificate. And I married in the process. >> Uh-huh. >> And I came back and completed that at Clinch Valley. >> So you now also have your teaching certificate? >> I taught before I was a librarian. >> Ah. >> I taught preschool. >> Uh-huh. >> That's my forte as a little kid. >> Uh-huh, and you were doing preschool, was that with the school system? >> I taught with Vansant Elementary in Buckingham County. >> Okay. Well, let's see now. One thing I need to get your approximate age. >> I just turned 29. >> Oh, okay. >> Halfway. >> All right. >> [LAUGH] >> Okay. >> So, well, you're not there yet. You're not to the big 3-0. >> No. >> [LAUGH] >> It's my last birthday, no more. >> [LAUGH] >> I'm having anniversaries from now on. >> [LAUGH] Well, I tell you, I think, I guess the way that I would like to focus this then, in terms of, you know, most, one of the things that's interesting about, two of the things that are interesting about your story. One is, is that you're a storyteller that you work with kids. Another thing is, is that you're an outsider who's moved into the region, as opposed from all these people that have moved out of the region. So, I guess one of the things I would like to focus on is, just right off the bat, getting your impressions of what the differences are like, of where you're from in the suburbs of Atlanta, and by the way, which suburb did you grow up in? >> Fulton County. >> Fulton County, okay. And so, I guess you're just your general impressions. And also, any funny stories that you have to tell, or not funny, sad, happy, interesting, just whatever, in terms of, of course, that's what makes the interviews good always, is when people have personal reminiscences that they, you know, that's what ends up getting in the story. >> Well, the biggest thing I can tell you is, I grew up, and I had several neighborhoods we lived in, in Georgia. And that's something we don't have a lot of here, in neighborhoods. >> It's a little bit grumpy, but County County is a neighborhood, the way I see it. The whole county, as everybody knows, everybody. Where in Atlanta, you're lucky if you knew your neighbor. >> Right. >> It was, it's friendly. Here, everywhere I go, it's everybody knows it. But the matter is, it's so wonderful when you've had grown up in a, in an area where you always saw children. You always, you know, you don't go out at night a lot. Especially if it's just like you and your children, you just don't do it. >> Okay, and why, for fear? >> Well, for fear, and just, it's just not safe, you know, in Atlanta, one. But here, I like it. You know, everybody at my neighbors keep a good eye on them, I keep a good eye on them. They care. They want to make sure. They say, hey, but your window's down. You know, if you, hey, you left the light on. They really care. And you're always, you know, so, you know, it's not like they're being nosy. It's like they care. They're friendly. >> Mm-hmm. So you notice, you notice a concern from people in the mountains that, that you weren't seeing in Atlanta. >> Oh, you definitely. >> Okay. >> That, that, the concern here is, is amazing. When I married here, I had no idea what I was getting into. And what I mean by that is, they do a lot of things differently here in Grendy. And by differently, I mean, they do great things. I mean, when, when I married my husband, Mark, the, the wedding shower they had for me was the fit for a coin. They invite, you know, hundreds of women. And that's where you get your wedding gift, which is so different than, you know, I'm, you know, this is kind of getting off the sedge. >> No, no, no. This is what, this is the kind of stuff that I was so unusual to me is when my mother and I came to Grendy that day for that wedding shower, I was expecting a wedding shower. I showed up and there, there was, you know, probably a hundred women there and there was gifts everywhere, everywhere. I bet I sent 250 thank you notes. It was unreal because that's what they do. When someone gets married, they have a shower and you give your wedding gift at the shower. You don't send the separate gift to the wedding. And that was not the way, you know, away from here, you know, even when. >> You get a little shower gift and then a little wedding gift too. >> Exactly. And your, your showers use about 15 women, your best friend. And you send them around. >> And here's the whole community. >> It is. And they take, they use, have them at the churches. And they're, they make a really big to do and you get to meet everybody. And that's how you, everybody gets to know you as though you're a shower. Which is, it's really special. I couldn't believe how they went out of their way to do that. And the same thing for when I have my children. They did the same thing. So they really celebrate weddings. >> And baby showers. >> Really good. >> And your, and so your husband then, let's, let's see, I'd like to get just a little bit of background. He's, he's an old line Grundy Countyan. I mean, Buchanan Countyan. >> Yeah, I'm from here. And in fact, his grandfather was the sheriff here and his uncle, the sheriff in Buchanan County. So he had quite a lineage. >> That goes all the way back. And, and he's, and he sells insurance there. >> He runs motor insurance. >> Uh-huh. >> He's the agent. >> And is it, is it an independent agency? >> Well, he is the agent. He works for Nationwide, but it is his own business. >> Oh, okay, I see. >> So he's an independent. >> His father had it and his father has retired and Mark is taking it over. >> Oh, okay. And, and so, and, and you've known, you've met a lot of people in the community through his, he insures everybody in town. >> Well, not everybody, but a lot. >> A lot of them. >> A lot. I'd say I've met a lot of people through his business, but most of them I met through teaching school and working at the library. >> Uh-huh. >> I think, you know, the most of my contacts came through me working. >> Right. >> And me and everybody. >> Okay. And because you were out in the community. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Now, let's see. That was really, I just needed to get just a bit of background. Let's see. When you came there and started teaching, say for instance, you started, I guess, what was your first, what was your first teaching job there? >> Okay. I was hired. First, the very first job I had, let me start over again, because what happened is we married, we knew we were getting married, but we didn't know when. And when we decided it was suddenly. Okay. And that's why I was working on my master's degree is because I knew I was wanting to be in education, but I, you know, we weren't, we weren't sure when we were going to marry. When we did, we married the week after school started here in Bucketton County. And the school system didn't have a lot of jobs open at the time. >> Right. >> They offered me an AID position in what they call chapter one reading. >> Right. >> And I took that over for four, five months. And then they offered me a job teaching a preschool that was a, it's a startup program that they, Virginia offered. It's a grant called Even Start Inlets for Children, a parent that did not have their high school diploma. So the parents would go to school in another classroom and get their GED while I had a preschool program for their young children. >> That sounds like a good program. >> So it was great. It went from birth until, you know, the age of kindergarten. And we had it all there. And it was a wonderful program. It really was. We enjoyed that. And so I guess I was in there a year and a half and then they had a big layoff in the school system. And I was let go because I was a new teacher. There was a lot of us let go that year. And that, you know, that's a problem here because we're losing a lot of workers and then a lot of kids and then they have to cut back on the school system. >> So instead of building up the school system, they're constantly retrenching and making it, and making it downsizing as they call it. >> Yeah, a RIFT, a reduction in force is what it was called at the time. And that was the time I had just had my first child, L.C. And he was born in May and in June I was laid off. And it was kind of, you know, it was real hard on me because I believe, you know, I enjoy working, but it was a blessing in disguise because I got to stay home with him. And so I stayed home with him for eight months. And in January the next year, I was, this position came up at the library. And Pat Hatfield, you know, the library, she had taught me, she also teaches for Clint Valley on the side. She taught me a lot of my literature courses to become a teacher. So she already knew me. So she was, you know, when I applied, she knew all about me. She had taught me all I knew. So I was kind of obvious almost her that she knew what I knew because she had taught me. So it was a wonderful job. It fit my schedule really well and it was with kids. But it couldn't have been, you know, I was in communication studies so I could market the library, do a lot of their PR work for them plus be their children's-- And so you were working full-time there? Full-time. And working the story art programs, the school programs. And, you know, I thought all the children's books from picture books for babies all the way up until you reach the adult book. I even helped with some of that sometimes. But it was a great job. I miss my job. I do, but I love my kids. Well, now how long did you work for the school system? I worked for the school system. Let's see here. I started in August of '91 and let's see, I was laid off in June of '93. Okay, now-- Not quite. I guess two years. Let me ask you this, having worked in-- I can do a little contrast and comparison here. Having gone to what I would imagine are very good, well-funded suburban schools in Atlanta to coming to Buchanan County, did you notice any difference? Were they also well-funded? And I guess what I'm saying is what are the similarities? What are the differences that you noticed just in terms of the school system you grew up in and the one that you ended up working in? Well, that's hard to say. I guess you don't-- it's terrible to say this, but as a child, you don't pay attention. You're there to go to school. As a teacher, you're on a totally different side. If I was still in that area, being a mother, I could tell you. But since I don't live there anymore and I don't spend a long time, as a child, you don't notice those things. I know we had good schools. The schools I attended were taught. They had lots of equipment. And when I taught preschool, we had a lot of access to it because we were a government-funded program. And our children received their lunches, pay-for, and everything. So the government does provide a lot here. They really do. This is Title I stuff. Yeah, Title I. And it's definitely Title I and Title I and same thing. But as for the classrooms, do I think around here what's very special are their PTAs? The school I taught at Vansant Elementary, their PTA was phenomenal. I mean, they would have sunraisers and they would supply the teachers with copyers of their own air conditioning units where the teachers had no air conditioning. I mean, the family unit is extremely strong here, extremely. And it shows through their PTA. And they saw the school as like an extension of the larger family unit. They go out and they work to help the teachers because they realize that there's not much that the county can do. You see, they try to fill that gap by having such strong PTA groups and going out and having the sunraisers and therefore getting that teacher that air conditioning unit so their children don't get too hot. Right. And they do wonderful things. And did they also help provide computers for the teachers? A lot. I saw the teachers had computers. I know they were working on that last. But at Vansant they did get the state of the art equipment for the teachers to use. But it was only like one or two. There's only about 20 teachers there. So they were able to share. Yeah, they did have it. It was available to them. But I didn't see a lot of lacking. I don't, I, to tell you the truth, it's hard to tell you because I've never taught in another school. If somebody taught somewhere else, I probably could give you more back. Okay. Well, do you feel in terms of just your experience, the experience that you had teaching there, did you, I guess let's see, give me some idea of the kids that you taught, were the kids a lot different than say kids that you were used to in other places, or were they the same? They're just the same. Kids are kids, huh? Yeah, it's the truth. I mean, I've always been very fond of children. I worked with children through church groups. Children don't have prejudices. They don't have a lot of biases until later. And all small children say, "That's why I like that group." It's because they just love everything. They're very honest and open and pure at mind. That's the best thing about the small children that I've always worked with. And so you like that naïve tithe and that sense of wonder and amazement that kids have? Yeah, I guess because nobody's told them not to like that yet. Nobody has to do that. And that's the best thing is they can enjoy it and make up their minds for themselves. So you see them then as ultimate consumers in the sense that they can make unbiased choices. When they hired me for this position, there were two positions. There were two and three-year-olds or younger, or four and five-year-olds. That's the first one they hired and I said, "I want the two and three." And they lived with me like, "Can't you want your mind?" And they go, "Why would you want two and three?" I said, "If I'm going to teach somebody, I'd like to be the first to get the hold of them." Because you learn from your parents, you learn from your teacher. And I'd rather maybe be the first. And if somebody comes to me next, well, my teacher didn't do it that way. Then I wouldn't have to worry too much about that. They can blame it all on me then. But I want to tell you, this is one thing that I find hysterical to this day. Are you from this area? I'm from East Tennessee. You may understand this because I still have a problem with this. Here in Buckingham County, everybody tells directions according to the rivers. In Georgia, we got lakes. There's a lot of rivers from behind you have. There are creeks or anything. I can't tell directions around here. Whenever anybody asks me where something is, I take a deep breath and really think about it because my directions don't help people around here. When people around here tell directions, they say, "Okay, you go up Slate Creek and it's where the bend of Slate is, it's just above So-and-so's house." Now, if it was me telling those directions, I'd say, "Go to the traffic light, make a right, go about a half a mile and it's the little blue house," and they live just next door to it. They would think, "I'm crazy when I tell directions like that because to them, when somebody lives above somebody, they mean they live up the creek from them. They live below somebody. They live down the creek. I live on the creek and I still can't tell you where I am. There's a man in town who he lacks at me every time I call him because in my life, we've always gone down the road. No matter where we're going, we're going down the road and we're going up the hill. He lives just down the creek from us. He's less than half a mile from my house, but I'll call him and I'll say, "Do you think you can wash my car today?" And he'll say, "Sure." And I'll say, "Well, once you come down here and get my car," and he'll say, "Well, where are you?" And I said, "I'm at my house because you mean come up here and get your car." And I'm like, "Don't tell them anything!" But that's something I cannot get you to say. Well, it's over. I know in Kentucky, when we were over there, everything in terms of directions, they talk about up one mountain or down another mountain. And so it's the one of the things that you... And also, they don't say it's like 12 miles or so. They'll say it's 12 minutes or it's 18 minutes or it's 20. They know exactly how long it takes to get to somewhere. But miles means nothing because you're dealing with mountains in minutes. And so that's one thing we've learned is that the geography of the region has a real, as you just pointed out, has a real impact on how you even perceive it. Because I have... When I first moved here, these kids would tell me they lived up dry fork holler or swamp creek holler. And I thought, "What?" Yeah, you had no idea, huh? Now I know. Now I know because I know where... What are some more place names there? You say dry fork holler? They say dry fork. Most of these are hollers, but they don't call them dry fork holler. Everybody knows it's a holler. It's called dry fork. Let's see here. Poplar creek. Hoot out. All of these places, if you say, "Where do you live?" If they say dry fork, you know they live way up in that holler. They can live at the mouth or at the head. And it takes me forever. To figure out where everybody is? Well, let's see. Now I'd like to... I guess if we could get an idea of what you see for... You've been there now for how long? Four and a half years. What do you see just from your perceptions of somebody that's coming in? Do you see lots of other people like you coming into the region? Are you real unusual? Or are there other people coming into Grundy? I don't say that there's not going to be... This is so hard to determine that because... There are several young women that have moved into the area. There are. They've usually married into here. There's not going to be a lot of women coming into the area on their own. Because the employment aspects aren't big. How have they settled in? You seem to be settled in pretty well there. The other young women that have come in, how have they adjusted to living there in Grundy? I think they've done all right. It just depends on the person. I'm the kind of person that nobody's going to make you happy but yourself. I could live in Yukon. You get out and find things to do. You make your own happiness. No one's going to make your husbands not going to make you happy. Your children aren't going to make you happy. I always want to tell somebody that who's moving here just recently, I go to Vantant Baptist Church. We have been having a hard time keeping a pastor lately. Our last one, I only say for a very short time, is why I do not like it here. That's beside the point. That has nothing to do with what I'm going to tell you. I want to let you know why I told this to our current one. When they came for their trial sermon, their name is Stan and Susan Parrott. They're from North Carolina. They're not far away but they're not from here. They were in seminary down at Fort Worth, Texas. When they came, they were wonderful. They're young. 25, they're still real young. Enthusiastic. They were just wonderful. They're just what our church needed. Some young blood that could get started again. We were in a rut. We had an interim for a year. When they came, I told Susan, I looked at her and said, "Your husband preached today on making your own happiness." I said, "If you two do decide to come here, I want you to remember that because this place is wonderful. It's what you make of it." I said, "You can't come here and expect not to be happy. You come here expecting to be happy because you have to do that yourself." I said, "I think my children are going to be well educated here because of me, not because of the school system. If I don't make my kids do their homework, if I don't make my kids do their stuff, they won't get a good education. I think that has more to do with it than the schools and the teachers." You see personal responsibility as a big part of life there in the mountains. I told you, the family unit is so strong. One of the ladies that works for my husband, her daughter, was a National Merit scholar. She's just unbelievable. She's thinking about pre-med. She's down at Emory University down there in your Abingdon. She went to Garden High School, which is your leave in Buchanan County. You pass it as you pass it. Garden High School is just like Grundy, but we produce some top-notch students because of their parents. Like I told Susan, I said, "When you come here, it's what you make of." She loves it. So you did the church hire these people. Yes, they love it. You say you're in the Baptist Church there. The selection committee, or I guess I'm not real familiar with how the Baptist Church operates, but there was a group of you. Yes, it was exactly what you called it. We called it a selection committee. Men and women. So you had... Well, let me ask you this. Whenever it came down to voting or whatever and everybody saying, "Well, I think we should have, and well, I don't think we should," or whatever, did you feel like that the women in the group had equal voice and equal input in terms of the decision-making? This is what happened. I'll tell you exactly how this works in our church. The selection committee goes out, and just to give you a little background about what happened. Yeah, that's fine. That's good. When we had a wonderful minister preacher, whatever you want to call him, who was here when I came to Vance and Baptist, and I was baptized there into the church, and his wife and I were extremely close. We were all about the same age. They had two children. That church was thriving, and he was contacted by a church in his hometown, and he felt the call to go back because it was a church for migrant workers. His wife is fluent in Spanish. And what hometown was this? It was Conway, South Carolina, and he left to go back to that because it was his calling. And those two together were just such a fine group. And they're working with migrants now? They're churches, primarily migrant workers. And what was his name and her name? Rodney Howard, and her name was Gay, G-A-Y. And they were fabulous. And they left. And ever since then, we told ourselves that we did not want to take another preacher away from another church because it hurt us to lose them. Well, that was a good insight. We are all still close to Rodney and Gay. In fact, they come back at least three times a year. We talk to them, I mean almost everybody in the church, but our church committee and our church feel strongly that we don't want to ever take a preacher from anybody else's church unless he has left. Because it hurt our church a lot for somebody to take our preacher away. So when we started looking, the selection committee would only listen to resumes from seminary students or from those who did not have a church home. And so a lot of the resumes or video resumes we would receive were seminary students. And what they would do, they would say, "Oh, we'd like him. He'd be perfect for this area." We would invite them in and pay their expenses to come in and we'd hear a trial sermon. If we liked him well enough, we could either invite them back or go ahead and vote on it. In the whole church, every member votes. Every person gets a piece of paper and we vote. Yes or no? No, no. And it was unanimous. Oh, really? 100% unanimous. Okay, your minister that you have now and his wife, their names are? Stan and Susan Parris. Okay, Stan and Susan Parris. Okay, and so, well that's amazing that you got. It was unanimous and that's why it's very, I mean, it's amazing what every vote counts here. Yeah, yeah, and that's the way it is. Well, now, you know, I've spent a good bit of time, as Jean-Franc Leep and I really loved our time that we spent up in Grundy, you know, we had a ball up there. And one of the reasons was, you know, it was obvious that, you know, they'd had these eight state championships. Oh, yeah. And you go over into Eastern Kentucky and the people in Eastern Kentucky to some degree are so beaten down. And then you go over into Virginia, you know, just five miles away. And we're bragging about everything. Yeah, and you've done everything in the world and it was like. A football team is on the way to the state. They're going in like the semifinals. Yeah, they're going to the state bound. One way, one away from the... Well, I've seriously thought about trying to come down and approach Pipeville College for a job after I, you know, I'm working on my p... Oh, that's great. Well, yeah, it's a good school and I've... I have several friends graduating there. Oh, have you? And I've never actually been down on the campus there. What's the campus look like? Is it an old school? Is it... Lots of old buildings. Yeah, but it is... But they have a fine... Their education college, you know, everyone has remarked on that because the teachers they put are high quality. And they offer a lot of graduate programs through Morehead and a lot of other, you know, close colleges. Well, I've really thought about it. We were so impressed with the area. I told JP, I said, you know, I wouldn't mind living up here. Well, in Kentucky, the new governor is from Pipeville. Oh, really? As of November. And so Pipeville should be a very interesting place for the next few years. Certainly in terms of funding. I'd say they at least have his ear. I'd say my. Well, you go to Pipeville a lot. And, you know, you just, you know, go to talk more about the area. You know, I love it here. And people say, well, how do you like it here? I still hear that to this day because I can't believe that I just love it here. You know, I'm very hung. And people are very nice to me. But the only drawback I see is a lot of times you have to go elsewhere to get that. Right. You know, it's... And it is difficult to get out of the area. You know, it takes you about two or three hours to get out of the area, you know, to get down to the interstate. They're expanding the four lanes through the Tuchelin area. Do you remember where that was? There was a Tuchelin Pentecostal Church. Yeah. So they're going to make that bigger, huh? They're going all the way up to the Vansant traffic light with a four lane now. And they're having to blast that entire mountain side out. You know that there's one road in and one road out. We sit in traffic for an hour at times now while they blast out that mountain. But someday it'll be worth it. But it is a pain in the rear right now. I mean, we came back from Richmond recently and we had to sit 50 minutes. How long does it take to go to Richmond from there? Seven hours. Seven hours? Seven hours. I know that several people talked about going to Richmond or Roanoke. Well, we just came back from Roanoke on Monday. We went up there to shop and see Soundclaws. And how many hours does it take to go to Roanoke? It takes like three hours. Okay, well, that's what I was wondering because a lot of people talked about going to Roanoke just like we do in Crossville about going to Knoxville. And it's like an hour to Knoxville. But they say, oh yeah, we went to Roanoke. We go to Knoxville. We go a lot to Abingdon and Bristol. I don't know if anybody's ever talked about this, about how you cannot have a baby in Buchanan County. Did you know that? No. Okay, we do here in Buchanan County, there is not an OB department. Right, at the local hospital. At Buchanan General, there is not an OB department. So if you are pregnant, you have to either have it at Richlands or somewhere else. A lot of women go to Richlands. A lot of women go to Potville. A lot of women go to Bluefield, Virginia and West Virginia. And a huge amount of women go to Abingdon and Bristol. So legally you -- I have my children were born in Abingdon. So you can't actually have a child. When you start having labor, you hit the road, huh? Unless it's an emergency, you don't have a baby here. I had both my children in Abingdon. Well, that's interesting. Those are the kinds of things that I'm looking for. My grandmother, she was -- oh, I'm pants and needles when I was pregnant. For fear that you were going to go without medical care, huh? But hey, none of my -- I had two different OBs. Both of them said they've never had anybody not make it. Well, let me ask you this question. One of the -- I think when I did one of the -- just healthcare in general, one of the other interviews that I did, somebody was telling me that -- and they didn't even tell me who it was, but they said that one of the local physicians there had AIDS and that it was a -- you know, is he doing okay? He's doing better. I don't know -- he was practicing some, but he got it through bloodstream. Yeah. Oh, is he an older guy? Yeah. And he's an evangelist also. Let me tell you, he's dear to everybody, and it's real sad. You think that's a disease for the -- you know, homosexuals is not. No. It is not, and it's breaking everybody's heart. It's well known and loved and liked. Well, all of love, he really is. Uh-huh. And, you know, that's the sad part, is a lot of people know about it, but they don't -- I don't think everybody knows how you get it. Uh-huh. And they think it's homosexual. Uh-huh. And I just -- So in that sense, then, you're saying that to a degree, the folks in Grundy have not yet been made aware of all of the realities of the AIDS epidemic and how you get it. That's everywhere. Uh-huh. That's everywhere. Uh-huh. But I -- you know, the people -- most -- all the people that I'm good friends with know. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. But I think there's going to be small-minded people everywhere. Right. I wouldn't say that in any way or form, because everyone I know knows how he got it in the fact that it's not. Right. But I just think that, you know, when people hear that, like you said, "Oh, he has AIDS, what comes to mind?" Right. Uh-huh. Yeah, of course. That has nothing to do with where we are. Right. And I think, then, that -- no, that, in fact, doesn't have anything to do with this interview. It was just a curiosity on my part. I saw his daughter. We went to Johnson City to the Sesame Street. Uh-huh. And I saw his daughter sat beside me. Uh-huh. And I did get to talk to her, and he's all right. Oh, it's so far so good, huh? Yeah. Well, now, healthcare in general, you know, you were talking about you couldn't have -- how many is the healthcare good there in Grundy other than the fact that you can't have children? Uh-huh. Yeah. I mean, the hospital, the local hospital? Yeah, I think it does. I mean, I -- we really haven't used it. Okay, so -- I just don't have stitches. We haven't used it. Right, generally. And generally, I'm not sure. I mean, I know a lot of people go up there. Uh-huh. And -- but -- and see, it's hard because there are just a few doctors in, you know, in the area that -- like -- like pediatricians. Uh-huh. They're not a lot of specialists. They're not a lot. Uh-huh. And so, when it comes to my children, I take them to their pediatrician in Abbie Den because he's the one that delivers things. And how long is it? How far -- how -- what -- It's an hour about -- I want 15 minutes. Oh, okay. So, it's not a -- it's not a -- it's not a real far piece. And -- Uh-huh. It's not far at all. So, I always take them back to the person that knows them the best. Uh-huh. That's because if -- if somebody here in Grundy had delivered them and -- You take them to them? -- they didn't even -- at birth, I'd take them here. But they -- there's nobody here to do that. Uh-huh. Yeah, I see what you're saying. So, that's why I take them there. But, you know, when -- you know, my husband, you know, he -- he's had to have stitches and stuff, or we take him straight to Buckingham in general. Okay. If anybody gets ill, we take him there. You know, I -- I think they -- it does about as good as a -- as a small area -- small town and small counties we are. It -- it does well. And they do bring in high-tech equipment all the time. In fact -- Uh-huh. Um -- Like the -- like the mammography machines and the -- you know, the trucks. Well, they don't have their own cancer unit here. Ah. You can take radiated -- you can take -- Ah. -- chemotherapy here in Grundy. Uh-huh. And it is -- we have that top notch of a cancer facility here. They -- Uh-huh. They started one here because there's no -- there's -- you don't have access to it in this part of the country. Uh-huh. And they do have a top notch cancer unit here in Buckingham County. Uh-huh. But, you know, other than that, I know that when things get critical, they usually fly people out. Uh-huh. Because the equipment -- The helicopter men and out? Yeah. Oh, as a matter of fact, we took a picture up there at the helicopter place. Yeah. And, you know, I couldn't -- you know, I haven't had a lot of experience with the hospital, so I couldn't tell you. But I know that when things get critical, they do -- they usually fly people out. Okay. I think we -- I'd like to ask you one more question, and then we'll tie it up here. Uh-huh. Um, the future. Uh-huh. What do you see for -- for the future for you, your husband, your kids? And I guess what I'm also -- what you would like for you to do is just kind of summarize everything in a -- in a few sentences of, you know, if you can, about what you foresee, you know, for out there in the future for you and your family and the kids and -- and Buck Cannon County and Grundy and -- Well, for my husband and I, we know we're going to be here. Uh-huh. I mean, we have no plans to go elsewhere. Uh-huh. We both are very happy here. Uh-huh. He -- you know, his -- his distance says, "All right." You know, it's -- it's a living. Uh-huh. And I said, "I can stay home, but," you know, when my kids do start school, I may start back to work so I can help out. Start teaching again? Yeah, I'd love to if possible, or even go back to the library. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I'd love to go back there. Uh-huh. I would. Uh, for my children, I see them, you know, uh, going through the school system here, I think, will be totally different when they get there, though. Uh-huh. Right now, you know, I believe we have 10 elementary schools and five high schools. That will not be that way. How -- what do you think's going to change? It's going to consolidate within a few years. So what do you think you're going to be down to? One high school? No, there's no way that'll be possible. Probably two? Two counties. Two far -- Right, one at each end of the county. One of the schools, maybe -- the high school's not consolidated as much as the elementary schools. Uh-huh. I think all the high schools, but maybe one will remain. Uh-huh. That all the elementary schools -- Will be consolidated? Big time. And do you see that as a -- as a positive thing? I do, because I'm not from here. Okay? But a lot of people -- a lot of -- A lot of people are from here. And you can say, you know she's not from here, because I don't have a dog in this fight. I didn't go to Vance and I didn't go to -- Right. I didn't go to James and I see it as if you put all the kids together, you don't have more -- better teachers, better equipment, and it thinks it'll just work better. Uh-huh. The money will go where it's supposed to instead of -- instead of the three schools, it all go to one. Uh-huh. But see, that's where you can tell I'm not from here. Because as I see -- I know. They've had that same fight at home. Yeah, my skills seem to go the best go possible. Uh-huh. And that's what's going to happen here any time now. It could happen in a year. It could happen five. I'd say it'll happen soon, though. Uh-huh. But they will -- Well, and certainly as they start downsizing, as you keep mentioning, if they keep downsizing at some point, they're going to have to consolidate. You know? You hear about it all the time. It's always in the paper. Uh-huh. It -- every couple of months, there comes out a new consolidation issue. And everybody's torn because nobody wants them to shut down their schools. And that's hard. And everybody says, "Where are you going to send your kid to school?" I'm like, "Where is it supposed to go?" Because, you know, a lot of people think that if they shut down my local school that I'll ship them off somewhere else. I'm not going to do that. Yeah. They go where they need to go. They don't need to go where their friends go. Uh-huh. You know? And I feel real strong about that. As for the county, like I told you, the school system will consolidate. Other than that, I don't see much else happening. I think it'll pretty much remain, you know, your diehards will be here just like they are now. And I think, you know, things will go well. You never know what's going to happen here. There's new business coming in all the time, but then the coal business is going down. Uh-huh. One is offsetting the other. But -- We just recently opened a brand new business at the industrial park way up Flake Creek. I mean -- And what business was it? I believe the name of it was called Issues and Answers at the Telemarketing firm. Ah. And it employed a lot of people. Uh-huh. So there's always something coming in here. Uh-huh. But how good is that offsetting the coal industry? I can't tell you. I'm not -- Well, do you see the coal industry continuing to go down there? Well, right now, there hasn't been a lot -- you haven't heard a lot about layoffs in a long time. Uh-huh. And what I mean by a long time in the past year, there hasn't been a whole lot. And that's good news, I think. But who's been a side? Oh, okay. I haven't heard anything. I'll tell you what. Well, I tell you what.