My Kentucky: Paducah & Beyond

My Kentucky is the land of my ancestors - generations of people who have inhabited the same hills and streams and towns I call home.

My Kentucky is the place of my birth. It is my roots. It is my past. It is the start of my story.

My Kentucky is the centerpiece of my childhood where every 4th of July was spent on Kentucky Lake and every Christmas downtown at my great-grandmother's house on Jefferson Street.

My Kentucky is the place I couldn't wait to escape from as a teenager when every familiar place and friendly face seemed like a prison.

My Kentucky offered up a new life to me in college, when I drove east along the Western Kentucky Parkway singing Wide Open Spaces at the top of my lungs.

My Kentucky was independence and "big" city living in Lexington as I crossed North Broadway a thousand times and learned who I was during my time at Transy.

My Kentucky wasn't home for five years. Five years spent defending her to anyone who dare insult her good name.

My Kentucky waited patiently for me to return - secretly knowing all along that the only thing my children could or would ever be were Kentuckians.

My Kentucky has opened up a whole new life for me. A life I never dreamed possible.

My Kentucky is the promised land - rolling hills of green and dirt roads and wide open sky that fills you up and make you whole.

My Kentucky is one of the great loves of my life. There always. Supporting me. Loving me. Inspiring me.