Down Home

Hello, my name is Sophie Ramey, I am thirteen years old and I am from Floyd County, Virginia. However, Floyd County is not where my family is from, other than my mom's side, she's from Floyd. In this book I have stories that I have gathered from my grandmother and her brothers and sisters, and my Papaw Lee. Some stories are from myself, and the first chapter is just my home life and how it was growing up in Floyd County. Obviously, I do not have entertaining stories and much perspective on this world, I am only thirteen after all.
This book has a very sentimental meaning to of course, it's my family. To you, it could just be any other book, and that is completely fine. I readers enjoy this book just like how I enjoyed creating it.
So please, read about what things were like down home.

Growing up- Sophie

I've lived in a small town called Floyd for my entire life, I think the population is around 16 thousand. One thing that was different for me growing up was the schools in my county, there was no middle school, only elementary and high school, the amount of students in the high school is only about 800, other schools in different cities would have about 8000. Due to living in this area, it was always easy to make friends, and I couldn't be happier with the ones that I have now.
My family concludes of a mother and father who most definitely have their differences, and two sisters. I love each and all of my family members, although they can be sort of difficult at times.
I grew up in a comfortable household, although there were some fights, stressful situations, overall I have had a pretty good life so far, and I think I have a bright future ahead of me. I was always brought up as a smart kid, I loved having the feeling of accomplishment and the feeling of people being proud of me, now that I think about it, I was never fully proud of myself. I'm not sure why that is, but I've always felt the need to excel, I would rarely ever take the chance of settling for what was less. Part of the downside of being an intelligent kid was never feeling fully accomplished, I would always want more, need more. Part of me is glad that my parents and those around me pushed me to be more than I could. Was it ever too much? Another part of me knows that it might've been a little excessive, but was it really at all? I think the person who pushed me the most was or still is myself. If I can't do something the same way or in a better way as one of my piers does it really matter at all?

Growing up- Sophie

Between me and my sisters there is a five and six year gap, most of the things I remember were from when my sisters were young teenagers, they would want to deal with going out with friends, talking about boys, being on their phones, and basically doing pretty much anything that seemed appropriate for their age in the early 2010's.
My sister Alex is six years older than me but we are actually very close. Growing up my sister Alex, or how we called her, Ally, was a great role model as well as a great friend. Ally was and still is always there for me, she has a genuine love for all things political and I couldn't be more proud of her for what she is doing up in the big city of Fairfax. My sister Ally has always taught me to do whatever I wanted and whatever was best for me, and most importantly she taught me to take care of myself. Ally has always been sort of a protection or safe place for me, no matter what is was about. Whether it was something extremely stupid or whatever my six year old self thought was important. Even though she is currently at college in D.C we still stay in touch and she is the same safe place she was and has always been.
My other sister Madison has a sort of different story. When we were younger she would always play dolls with me, but of course me being the whiny, sensitive kid I was, I would get irritated very easily, and Madi would get very upset with me. It of course isn't her fault but I've always thought she just was being rude to me because I was younger and smaller than her. Now that I think about it, she was right, I was very annoying. Honestly the fights with my sister resulted in very nice makeups. Now that I'm older, we are very close and tell each other pretty much everything, and we're a lot alike. Madi is a safe place for me as well.

Growing up- Sophie

Growing up in Floyd County and experiencing the same school as my sisters did was honestly pretty easily. Everybody knew "The Ramey Girls". That's what everyone called us, shocker right? I'm glad my sisters were good kids, set up a nice pathway for me, my oldest sister Alex, was cheer captain since the day that she tried out for the team, she was one of the best flute players in the marching band, and her presentations in forensics were to die for. My other sister Madi, got the all-state title for libero, and she is playing college tennis. Both of them are perfect at basically everything they have ever done. What about me though? What have I done that's so special? Honestly I'm not quite sure. I've done some things that people think are important but, as I said earlier, I never feel that it is good enough, I don't think that it will ever be good enough, not for anyone, not even for myself.
My Mamaw's cooking is the absolute best, especially since it is made with love, I can tell my Mamaw likes to take care of people, I think that's where I get it from. I like to take care of people too, even if it as little as helping someone out on a school project.
My friends are the people I like to help the most, I want to be a good friend, it's another thing that helps me feel accomplished. I rely on my friends for most things, whether I just need to get something off my chest, or even just need a good laugh. There is somethings that I don't necessarily tell anyone, that can be a good thing sometimes as well as a bad thing. I don't want people to worry about me because, I think I can take care of myself and so far I've been able to.

My parents have also helped me with a lot of things, I know they want me to be the best person I can be and I really do appreciate that. My father Mike and my mother Amy met here in Floyd County, my mom has lived here her whole life, and my father moved here from down home. My parents are two very sperate people and of course have their differences, I have learned a lot from each of them and some things from them as a whole. I am now in the seventh grade and as of this year my parents have decided to separate, a part of getting older is understanding situations like this and I realize that they are getting older too. I appreciate them doing the right thing for our family, and for themselves.
I'm only thirteen years old, born in 2009, causing me to be part of generation z. I think our younger generations grow up faster than later generations do, due to being introduced to technology at a young age, I never did anything stupid online or anything that I shouldn't have, simply because I knew it was wrong.
I think I always tended to be more mature than other kids, especially now. I don't think it's a bad thing, because I can actually have real conversations rather than a sugar-coated light talk about serious things. I can tell when things are serious and I'm always prepared to talk about it with anyone.
Overall my experience growing up is still happening and I can't wait to finish my experience, although I want to take my time. Getting older and overall just growing as a person is a very special experience and one that is not meant to be rushed through. Take your time finding what actually interests you and put work towards it, that is one of the most important things you can do, little steps can indicate whatever you do for the rest of your life. it's never too late to make drastic changes and take risks, it's always important to at least try, even if you don't overachieve, learning that is just a part of growing up.

Growing up- Sophie

You've reached the end of the book

Read again

Made with Book Creator