There is a certain bond between people born and raised in Appalachia and where they grew up.

Most of us spent our childhoods in small towns or up a holler (hollow for you city slickers) and we have a special attachment to those communities and the people who live there.

The place where we were born and raised is special to most of us. There is a strong kinship to the family, classmates and neighbors we were around through those early years.

We all remember our grade schools, junior high or middle schools and most certainly our high schools.

Those friendships we made so many years ago are still strong even if we don’t see those folks in person. But if you have a reunion or chance meeting, the memories and feelings come flooding back.

Social media has let many of us reconnect with those from our past. It also helps us stay in touch with family members who now live in other states many miles away.

We make special bonds with teammates on sports teams and those childhood friends. Those bonds last forever.

You may talk about fishing in the local river or pond. It could be about hiking and playing in the nearby forest. It could be wading in the creek catching crawdads. Or it could be those fun days of playing sandlot baseball or basketball wherever we could find a goal and someone had a basketball.

It may be in conversations about riding bicycles for hours up and down a street or road. It might be about catching lightning bugs and putting them in a jar on a warm summer evening. Going barefoot in the summertime and being happy that you could do that, even if you might have stepped on a honeybee a time or two (like I did).

You have a certain feeling about the mountains and nature.

That connection is a bond woven so tightly that there is a certain kinship to the place we call home.

Some of this feeling is geographic – whether you were born and raised in West Virginia, Kentucky or one of the other states that make up Appalachia.

But it also stems from our culture and how we are raised. In Appalachian, things like strong religious values, morals and manners mattered most.

There can be a connection to what we ate, like beans and cornbread, killed onion and lettuce and other food unique to our small communities and country families.

Appalachian residents are always there to help out their neighbors or friends in need. From an early age, we heard he was “raised right.” This is a true reflection on your parents and how they raised you through those early childhood years. You certainly didn’t want to be an embarrassment to your family.

Shaming your parents is something you would never do – at least not on purpose.

You were raised to appreciate the many things our parents and grandparents did for us. We were thankful for simple things like the food on the table, a roof over our heads and the clothes on our backs. Sure, as kids we wanted more. That is why it was special to get something new or maybe sell soda pop bottles to buy candy or a cold Nehi out of the cooler at the local grocery store.

Appalachian and country people are a special breed. We were raised to have values such as honesty and integrity.

Another favorite phrase you often heard growing up is “They’re good people.” I still hear that from time to time. That simple phrase says a lot.

Many of our families worked at the same place – maybe at the local coal mine or the railroad. That kind of hard-working culture is a proud part of our heritage. Most of us had moms who cooked meals daily, did the laundry, cleaned house and did all the other chores a housewife did.

A lot of our moms did their own sewing and mending of clothing. Some older women, especially the grandparents, might have learned to quilt and passed that special trait down to you or your siblings.

Yes we may have been clannish, but being Appalachian meant we had a certain humility and kinship.

That is why we feel a sense of pride when we hear “Take Me Home Country Roads” or “My Old Kentucky Home” play anytime or anywhere.

You are proud to say that you are from Appalachia.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)