My stepfather, Thomas B. , a conductor on the New York Central Railroad. Franklin Roosevelt traveled on his train when he was going home to Hyde Park. One day the President called Tom into his compartment. He told Tom that he was contemplating instituting a retirement insurance program for workers. He wanted to begin with railroad workers as a kind of experiment. He asked Tom what kind of program would be helpful to railroad workers after they could no longer work. I don't know what Tom told him, but subsequently the Railroad Retirement Act was passed, the forerunner of the Social Security Act.
Hope C. Bogorad
My father was a minister. Our church, locally and nationally, had a very weak pension policy: scarcely enough for food, let alone housing or medical costs. Originally Social Security did not cover ministers. I'll never forget the joy on my father's face the day he learned that ministers would be covered by Social Security and he could provide for himself and my mother in dignity.
Ruth Shinn
A Life Line for Matthew
Although money can never replace the love and guidance of a parent, the reality of life is such that money is needed in order to survive. In November of 2003, I lost my 28-year old son in an accident just eight days after he became a father for the first time. Eight days was all he had with his son; eight days to love his infant child. That little boy is now six years old, lives with his Mom in southern Maine, and although, he is growing up without his Daddy, his small family is secure in the fact that each month a check will arrive from the Social Security Administration to help defray living expenses.
That small boy will never know his Dad or share the special memories that define the man he will become. He will never share with his Dad the thrill of walking through the woods on junior hunting day in search of the great white-tailed deer; the thrill of casting his line into the waters to catch the ever elusive trout; or learning how to drive on the back roads of Maine. He will learn truth, honesty, and the American spirit from someone else. I am saddened that my son is no longer with us; I am saddened that my grandson has to grow up without his Daddy; but I am grateful that a program which began 75 years ago still exists today to help struggling families deal financially with the loss of a loved one.
Could one have imagined that a program begun in the 1930s during the Roosevelt Administration would still be providing financial support three-quarters of a century later to millions of American across this country? Matthew will only know his Daddy through the memories of others, but he will always know that Social Security will be there for him until he becomes a young man, all because socially conscious people like Frances Perkins and Franklin Roosevelt had a vision for the care of America’s elderly and its needy children. What a legacy!
Angela N. Stockwell
Are you a senior citizen who worked hard in previous decades and now has the leisure time and money to pursue hobbies and travel? This is the category that fits me best since I got my SSN in 1954 under a different gender name and worked for 42 years before retiring. Since my ex of 29.5 years spent all our income, I could not save anything for retirement, so Social Security has been a lifesaver since I first received it in June of 2003. I am not disabled yet at 69 and was only recently halfway orphaned when my mother passed on at 88. My dad is still surviving at 95 and they both survived with Social Security. I went to last half of college on VA benefits after being in the US Navy for 4 years from 1963-1967. I am not old enough to remember life before Social Security!
Leisha AenneA Neelix
My wife and I are volunteers for the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). We see first hand how Social Security affects the lives of the retired and less fortunate. Without Social Security, many Americans would be destitute and some could never enjoy retirement in their last years. For many, Social Security is their lifeline out of poverty.
At times, politicians and others speak of Social Security in an abstract way. For our clients at VITA, there is nothing abstract about Social Security; it is sometimes their only source of income. Our clients are not politically savvy and less likely to speak up regarding program changes relying on others to do ‘the right thing’ and be a beacon of hope.
Frances Perkins and others in the Roosevelt administration exemplified ‘beacons of hope’ to the less fortunate.
Ladd Leder
PLAYING A BAD HAND WELL
I look back on 78 years of life and realize I owe the Social Security program a tremendous amount. It is ironic that my parents, along with most other people we knew when I was growing up, thought Social Security was a bad policy.
However in 1947 when I was 16, my father died as I was starting 10th grade in high school. My mother was not in good health and was unable to work. But thanks to Social Security and a World War I veteran payment, I did graduate in 1950.
Sometime later I married and had 4 boys, the oldest of which was no longer eligible for Social Security at the time of my first husband’s death in 1976. However the other 3 boys were 10, 7, and 3 respectively, with the youngest not yet in school.
As an only child of much older parents, I had no relations to help at this critical juncture in my children’s lives. The fact that the four Social Security checks came regularly every month enabled me to process a stable environment such as existed in the homes of most of their peers. All three matured socially and educationally because of my efforts and now have Master’s degrees.
When the youngest was able to be alone if he could not attend school, I went to college classes at Temple University and graduated 6 years later with a bachelor degree. The family maximum continued after my oldest left home to attend MIT in 1983. That happened to be the first year that no college help was provided. However, Social Security offices did warn me of that back in the 1970s.
When the next one left home to attend the University of Pennsylvania, I started to look for paid employment since only two checks were not enough to pay the bills. My youngest boy became independent before attending West Chester University because I was about to turn 60 and planning to marry again. This provided me with monthly payments on my first husband’s Social Security account.
Unfortunately I was only married for 9 years when my second husband died. I then chose the monthly check from my second husband’s account which paid more. Because of workable decisions, I am leaving the world better off than before I entered it.
Ellen Kadransky |
