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• Wednesday, July 25, 2007 01:07 PM

  aka smith

  my cna merline, who makes about $10. an hour & who clears less than that, meets your definition of a poor person, i assume. last year she flew to philadelphia for a sister's 60th birthday party. this year she flew to one family reunion and will drive to another next month. rich or poor, for some people family is priceless. for others-- meh, not so much. tennis's response is just an excuse for the selfish. "hey mom, sorry i couldn't be there when you croaked-- or any time previously-- but oh the pain! the pain!"

  you know, i grew up poor, although we didn't consider it that. my first cousins still lived on the farm & didn't have an indoor toilet until the 1970s: *that* is poor. i started my work life on a pretty low rung. i remember one time thinking i could just make it to payday on tuna casseroles-- if i had the tuna. i scavenged every returnable bottle in my crummy basement apartment, then around the complex, to be able to afford three cans on sale. i was too proud to ask my parents for any assistance-- they lived a state away-- but if one of them were seriously ill, i would have begged or borrowed to get to them. family matters or it does not. all else is an excuse.

  —beuchel Read beuchel's other letters
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