I remember a day when I was twelve or so, and I heard that Southern accent jump out of my mouth for the first time. I can't remember what word it was, but I remember shocking myself. "I sound Southern!" Surprise, surprise after living in Tennessee for ten years with a Texan and Virginian raising me, but I didn't like what I heard. Why? Had I already been trained to hear a Southern twang and associate it with a lack of education?
Moving to Washington State and my more recent time in the North East trained it out of me. My dad's Texan twang comes out when he is onstage talking to people. Mine comes out after a glass of whiskey too many....and maybe when I'm in Virginia.
That's right. Already it's creeping back. The "cor-i-ah-na" of Boston becomes the "cor-i-Aa-na" of the South. Hello, old me, I know you're smart, and seemingly sweeter than New England me, I charge you with making lots of friends but not falling on the crutch of being that sweet Southern girl persona it's easy to fall into.