Albuquerque, NM

Dooley Gilchrist

Some cousin once told me, when it was still too close to home, “Happiness at eighteen is Jackson in your rearview mirror.” Jackson, Mississippi, that is. A lot of us grew up there–for better or worse. On the Gilchrist side, our grandparents were called “Bodie” and “Big Dooley.” There were lots of us grandchildren, and now there are nearly as many greats and great-greats.

The one cousin who inherited our grandfather’s enigmatic nickname, Dooley (if you knew “Uncle Dooley,” this is his son), is a lawyer living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After spending a week skiing and going to soccer practice with his family, I asked him questions and recorded our conversation about the South, our family, the questions our children will have to one day face, and how to cope in the meantime.