Reflections

I recently lost my father, and the weeks since he was first hospitalized I've spent a lot of time reflecting about what I was taught as a child, and what I've taught my own children.

My father was a pretty amazing man. He quit school in the 5th grade to help support his family because his parents were separated by the war, and his father could no longer get money home to the family. Yet, on a 5th grade education, he managed to be one of the most successful men you could meet. He lived a full life - he owned his own homes, even a vacation home, was able to send five children to college, buy them all new cars, etc. Many today would wonder how he did it - but he did it with plain hard work. He never asked anyone for a handout - he was able to get a job 2 days after coming to this country, and never stopped working after that. As I was growing up he worked 6 days a week, 12 hours a day so that my mother could stay home and take care of their children. He never complained about it. Yet to us - it looked so easy. He would come home and still spend time with us, work on house projects, and take us to visit with family. He made sure that even though he worked a lot, that he was always there to advise us, comfort us, and enjoy us. His biggest lesson to us was to always take care of your reputation - that when people hear your name you want them to know you as a trustworthy, honest person.

I take these lessons my father taught me very seriously. I work hard at home, at my place of employment, and at the many volunteer jobs that I have. I get angry when people question my integrity - my father always said that your name was everything and I believe that. My motives are always to make decisions in the best interests of my own children, and when I am on Board of Ed I am making decisions on what I feel is in the best interests of all of the children in the district.

Now that elections are coming up, I am sure there will be many that will question the motives of others. I truly hope that people refrain from making accusations and that they don't make insinuations. Each time an insinuation is made that someone is trying to "cover something up" I want to scream. The Board is made of of honest, hardworking people who are making decisions in the best interests of the children. Let's not tarnish people's reputations with unfounded accusations.