Ashville, NC

TAYLOR : “ I am a total Gramma’s boy. I am not a mama’s boy or a daddy’s boy. I am my Gramma’s boy. Like one thousand percent. I love that woman. I was different from my sisters growing up. I was just gross all the time. I was constantly gross. My sisters were cheerleaders and cleaner. Growing up my dad worked third and my mom struggled with some addiction issues at the time.

She gave me the chance at being a happy kid. I remember sometimes being up at my Gramma’s. I had two cousins up there; Diamond and Britney We were like the three little musketeers growing up. My Gramma would just take us outside and let us dig under the porch. I don’t know if you know anything about the south, but if you are digging under a porch in the summertime there’s gonna snakes, there’s gonna be spiders, there’s gonna be tons of things you don’t need to be messing with. We were getting under there at four years old and my mom came up there one day and I never heard my mom cuss so much in my whole life. She is a worry wart and she was like, “MARTHA!! WHY? Why is he covered in mud??” My Gramma was like, “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. I don’t know why you send them up here in their Sunday best because they are kids and they need to play.” Eventually, my Gramma started buying us random clothes from yard sales to play in. If you saw us on the side of the road you’d be like, “Do they have a home?” We’d have on neon adult’s shorts, torn up flannels, and baggy overalls, but we had fun!

I’m a third generation Appalachian southerner here. A lot of people are like I don’t believe in going to church, and just assume southern folks are harmful. I think it’s specific people, not the religion or group. On all sides, it’s one extreme or the other. Religion taught me a lot about love and so did my Gramma. My Gramma taught me about unconditional love and has loved me through all my changes and helped me find a positive viewpoint in life. If you can find that positivity, it can keep you going. “