Seniors Are Not Throwaway Folks

To the Editor:

I fully understand an irate dad sticking up for his 12-year-old. Our first amendment rights allow us the opportunity to speak our minds whether we are old enough to vote or not. The terseness of her letter no doubt written in anger and prompted along by her parents does not give her the right to tell people they need to leave Newtown if they vote for or against something she doesn’t approve of. That is hardly teaching a child respect for persons, mostly elderly, who voted down this budget. Voting for or against a town budget is every citizen’s right. That is the American way.

I think Jenna’s service to the public is admirable, but do not agree with her dad that President Roosevelt would have been proud of her for defending our democracy. As I remember Franklin, he was a shrewd no-nonsense guy and would have seen through the veil of self-serving wishes of a youngster while she pitches a hissy, in a public forum. I suspect the Ruddocks want the best for their family, but a private school education funded by the public just isn’t going to happen. My son sends his two children to Packer Collegiate at a cost of $30,000 per child, per year, and all people are free to do so.

I was Jenna’s age when World War II broke out. When I grew up and had four children and educated them, through medical school and law school, I never realized how expensive things would get. The hard-earned money we both made to educate them, and the rainy day savings we put aside have proven to take us short of where we hoped to be by the high cost of living diminishing the value of our nest egg. In 1957 a Silver Cloud Rolls Royce…loaded…cost $18,000, and a quart of milk was 25 cents. We foolishly saved with those prices in mind and along came our kids, driving “Beemers,” Lexus’, gas guzzling SUVs, $750,000 homes with $500,000 mortgages. Unheard of in our generation except for the very, very wealthy. Jenna, I am appealing to a bright young lady like yourself who hasn’t even learned yet, what most of our seniors have already forgotten. We do not under any circumstances want to depend on our children to support us. $55,000 a year doesn’t go so far when you are paying $6,000 a year for drugs to keep you alive and well, along with other expenses, taxes, etc. Your dad is probably close to the top of his earning curve. We seniors are at the bottom of ours. My husband, Frank, is 83 and served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, like your grandpa. We have a lot in common.

So, lighten up Ruddocks. A child like your Jenna will never get lost in this world, and think of me losing so many of my friends through death and the high taxes in Newtown. Seniors are not throwaway folks. We count too. And despite the written diatribe, that we need to leave Newtown, and our beloved country, America, it’s not going to happen.

Joan L. Crisona

17 St George Place, Sandy Hook                                     July 7, 2003