SHORE PERSPECTIVES: ESVA native shares how there’s no place like home

By Kelley Gaskill

As a preacher’s kid, we moved to different areas of Virginia every four years. In the early to mid-80’s at Appomattox County High School, one of the greatest influences was my English and Journalism teacher who’d share stories from her youth about farming, fishing and, more shocking to me, hunting! As a “city girl” who transitioned to Appomattox country life in the early 80’s, I’d never heard of a lady hunting in my life! I marveled at her stories about life in a place I’d also never heard of called the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Little did I know then that I’d be moving to the Shore in 1986 and falling in love with it as my home.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting with my favorite high school teacher while she was here for her birthday. Upon arriving back to central Virginia, she reflected about her beloved Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Dorothy said it best in The Wizard Of Oz, “there’s no place like home.” This week, I visited with Shore native Edwina Miles Covington as she reminisced about what’s changed and what remains the same with Shore life.

As a teenager, I admired this example of a strong woman who, in my mind, could do anything. To this day, I admire this lady!