When you grow up here, you learn quickly that good times don't last and bad times come too often. This week proved it again: another coal mine closed, and 32 miners clocked out for the last time. That's 32 families now wondering what's next, in a place where "next" is usually hard to find.

Washington feels far away, but its decisions land right on our kitchen tables. Cuts to food stamps, housing grants, and broadband programs may look like budget lines in D.C., but here they're groceries, rent, and the chance for kids to learn online. In McDowell, where nearly half of us rely on some form of assistance, those cuts cut deep.

Basic things like water and roads still test us. Folks in Gary have spent years patching together a life without reliable water. Some haul it from springs, while others come from old mine shafts. Nonprofits are trying to run new lines, but it's slow work. Then came a rock slide near Panther that blocked the road and reminded us how easily we can get cut off.

And the floods — we're still living with them. Six months since February's disaster, many neighbors are still waiting on FEMA or stuck in rentals they can't afford. Some homes are gone, some never repaired, and winter's closing in. People tell me they feel forgotten. It's not the first time McDowell's been overlooked, but it never gets easier.

Life still moves in smaller ways. The courthouse logged new marriages, deaths, and land transfers. Every week, those records remind us that even when the economy falters, families still grow, grieve, and carry on.

There are darker notes too — a teen charged after a fatal Route 16 crash, an animal cruelty case that rattled the community, and another murder charge in Bradshaw. In a county this size, bad news never feels distant.

But hope shows up too, usually carried by neighbors. Big Creek People in Action is giving out food boxes. On September 25, Save-A-Lot will hand out free Naloxone — vital in a county still fighting opioids. Kids in War can sign up for Girl Scouts later this month. Small things, maybe, but around here the small things keep people going.

McDowell has been called many names over the years — the birthplace of food stamps, the face of rural poverty, a coal town on the decline. To me, it's just home. We've seen mines close before, we've dug out after floods before, and we've survived more budget cuts than I can count. What's always carried us through isn't money or policy — it's grit, and neighbors who don't let one another fall.

If you need help, the Economic Development Authority has job resources online at mcdowellcounty.wv.gov. The Public Service District can answer water questions. And if you just need to remember you're not in this alone, stop by a food giveaway, a church dinner, or even the courthouse steps. Hard times aren't new here. Neither is getting through them together.