What in the World?!: A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings

Morgan introduces herself as “a southern girl who loves babies and dogs” and has “a husband who doesn’t chat” (ix). After decades of trying, Morgan is in awe of her success in comedy, often wondering, “What in the world have I done to deserve this?” (x). Through the ups and downs of her life, Morgan found strength in her faith and her ability to find comedy in everyday life. She knows that God is with her every step of the way, and those surprising and confusing moments mean that things are moving forward.

Morgan grew up in Adams, Tennessee, a town of 500 people on the Tennessee-Kentucky line. Most people in Adams were “the same,” and although Morgan’s family fit right in, in some ways, they were very different. Morgan’s family, the Fletchers, owned Adams’s only grocery store. Her father, Jimmy, was known for his butchering skills, and her mother, Lucille, worked the cash register.

Before Morgan started kindergarten, Lucille would prop her up on the counter to tell customers stories. She told her daughter every day that she was special and funny. Morgan’s older sister, Beth, on the other hand, was “painfully shy,” and Morgan wonders if she exaggerated her extroversion to spare Beth the pain of the spotlight.