Floridiana: Cross Creek

Cross Creek, what can I say about my experiences in relation to the book Cross Creek? Well, given that we had a nice list of books to read for our Floridiana module and the book Striptease was the most appealing after reading the description of the book. I actually rented it from the library as well as Cross Creek, but after the first few pages into it, I couldn’t see how any of that were relative to our class studies thus far and went with Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. I feel much like Ms. Rawlings in that I came from a small town in the backwoods of North Carolina, on a farm. We didn’t have much and neither did many of the people I knew. I was determined to escape. I was determined to do better and live up to everything I knew I was capable of accomplishing.

My first step was education. I moved from my farm after graduating from high school and attended the University of South Carolina. (Go Gamecocks!) This was my first step, but it also allowed me to see a different part of life. Not only was I attending college, but I was no longer trapped in the small town destiny that I was sure to become trapped in forever. Even now, reflecting back, I see many of my old friends on Facebook and they have no clue that they don’t have to be subjected to the hard times they go through.

Reality is that, after spending four years in South Carolina, I needed to move even further, which led me to Florida. Now, my life makes sense. I have purpose. Anyway, I’m not trying to make a bio out of my journal, which is probably why the beginning parts are so short, but the book Cross Creek holds a deep meaning to me personally as I can understand and respect  Marjorie for all of her achievements.