Mother and Politics

My mother was not vocal on partisan political matters. Even in family circles, she pretty much kept her views to herself.

The only time I remember her speaking out was a week before my eighth birthday in 1945. "You may not yet understand," she said, showing me the newspaper headline, "but I want you to remember that a great man died today." It was the day we learned that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had died.

I never forgot.