Wisdom from the Woods–Life lessons learned from being around family
Family is why we leave… why we stay… and why we come back. In an election year, there is occasional debate about the term family values. I don’t know what that expression means from a political standpoint. I do, however, know what it means to me as a West Virginian. In spite of having no brood of my own, my figurative family of friends continues to multiply in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I’ve discovered brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, parents and even grandparents every bit as cherished to me as blood relatives. We laugh effortlessly and quarrel with intensity, just like kinfolk too. Amid the many myths about West Virginia there is an indisputable truism. We can be best friends and worst enemies in the same day, but NO ONE picks on our families. We will defend each other to the death. To me THAT is family and something to value any time of year.
– Jim Shock, LBSPY #17
HASHTAGWV ART & ENTERTAINMENT Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Christina Entenmann-Edwards has been a WV resident since September 2008. She was born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and is no stranger to hard work and the entrepreneurial spirit. In 2006, she graduated from Quinnipiac University (Hamden, Connecticut), Cum Laude, with a B.A. in History. In 2010, she graduated with an M.B.A. from Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia). In February 2012, Christina launched HashtagWV as the area’s first full-color, free arts and entertainment tabloid + online platform. Christina completed the Leadership West Virginia class of 2021, which is an innovative program that grows, engages, and mobilizes leaders to ignite a life passion to move West Virginia forward.