BY WALLACE CALEB BATES Tough times do not last, but tough people do. Given the flooding events our community saw, I have thought a lot about this in recent days and weeks. Countless times throughout my life, I have seen people in my home community grapple with devastation, loss, and immense grief. Despite that, they maintain their deeply rooted faith. It speaks to who we, as Appalachians, are: mountain folks with unrelenting grit and resolve. There is real beauty in that, a kind of beauty that no negative narrative can still, nor any perfect portrayal, incapsulate. When the going gets tough, we dig deep. We find a sense of resolve instilled in us by previous generations of our families, those whose labor built the developing world around us. I often think about them: coal miners like my great-grandfather, Robert, who stood tall for a world much more extensive than any man. Our country is at a crossroads. We can feel the deep wounds of political and social divisio...