The rub to last week’s column was that Shirley Simmons’ mortgage bank was sending her letters, and they weren’t thank-you notes for her amazing grace. They were foreclosure threats. All those decades had taken their financial toll, Shirley was three months behind, and she was about to get thrust from the small Milton ranch house where she lived for the last 30 years. But Globe readers, once they heard, wouldn’t let it happen.
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Comments
It's a tribute to people's capacity for generosity when they can attach the face of a real individual person to a problem. Now I could only wish that people would realize that they need to have a government which channels that compassion into the larger-scale problems that can't be helped by a one- or two-time "special case" approach. There are millions of Shirley Simmonses out there who aren't getting the individual compassion in the tangible forms they need it. And collectively, we now live in a land where social services are equated with "government handouts we can't afford."
Nice work once again, Brian. Your articles are always worth the newsprint and the time spent reading them, and invariably when you focus on a worthy cause or an injustice that needs righting, your readers take action. Keep it up!
The home page summary says that this poor woman was about to get "thrusted" from her house. Please let's get that corrected right away!
Brian, You are terrific! Your column and generous people have given Shirley hope and the ability to stay in her home. Peace, Re
Wasn't in H.L. Mencken who said the duty of reporters was to afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted? Thanks, Brian McGrory.