Advice from a small town girl

A wonderful person passed away recently, and I feel compelled to remark upon it. Not only because this particular person is now gone, but because, with her, a bit more of a particular ethos, one that we see too little of today, died as well.

I don’t remember the particular circumstances of the conversation, but something this woman said to me several years ago, when she was already in her eighties, has stuck with me.

And not always in a comfortable way.

She told me that she had not yet drawn Social Security, and that she would not draw it unless she needed it, because that wasn’t what it was f...