Growing Up in the Northern Neck

By Kay F. Davis

College, Career, Single Woman

In my small, conservative, Virginia hometown, my reality was simple.

I would work in retail and live at home with my parents. I might marry, sometimes incompatibly, to have a ho

• Language: English
• Publisher: Independent
• Release date: May 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869382603

Kay F. Davis

Kay F. Davis is a print, Web, and social media editor in Central Virginia.

Book preview

Growing Up

in the Northern Neck

Kay F. Davis

Copyright © 2024, Kay F. Davis

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This book is dedicated to my father, Marvin Thomas Davis,

who instilled in me the value of work, and gave me a place to dream.

Contents

Foreword

World of Nature

Northumberland County

Callao

Locust Lane

Family

Neighbors

Religion

The Bible

God and Jesus

Spirit World

Education

Woodland Academy

York Academy

Northumberland High School

Fantasy

Fairy Tales

Idealistic Characters

Adventure Stories

Women

Beauty

Magazines

Relationships

Romance Novels

Time Travel

Generational Changes

Humanities

Choosing a College

About the Author

Foreword

This book is about my childhood and adolescence in Virginia’s Northern Neck, a peaceful region of forests, farms, and rivers.

In this book, I describe the community of nature in which I was raised, my religious background, my beliefs about women and education, my thoughts about women’s roles in society, my need for a fulfilling fantasy life, and my desire to have a career. 

I wrote this book in 2020, about 2 years after the death of my mother. I spent many months reflecting on my relationships with my parents, and my upbringing in this region. In 2024, I decided to publish the book so that others could learn more about living in the Northern Neck.

I was a curious, and mostly happy, child. Like many creative children, I escaped into my fantasy world of music, books, films, and TV. Like most introverts, I preferred to be alone or talk to my small circle of friends.

I was raised in a family of tradesmen and homemakers. As a child, I conformed to my family’s expectations to get good grades and graduate from high school. As an adolescent, I seemed unable to find a mate to conform to the expectation of marriage.

My life path was simple. As a young woman, I would live at home with my parents. If employed, I would work in an administrative or retail job. I might move to a home of my own if I met someone to marry.

I decided early on that I would contemplate marriage as long as I could live in a location of my choice, with money and a compatible mate. By compatible, I meant a trusting friendship, mutual love, and great chemistry.

Unfortunately, my family history indicated that I would probably marry an abusive male and have little recourse if the relationship did not work out. Juggling work and children, I would not have the time, or the money, to attend college. 

My escape into a middle-class lifestyle, in which I would be a well-educated single woman with financial independence and choices, would only be possible if I went to college and moved away from the small town in which I was raised. 

This was not as daunting as it sounded. I would live in a city nearby. I would have money to spend on clothes,