[ValerieUSA]

I am not ashamed of my Grandmother. She was one of 13 children and had to quit school to work as a maid for a wealthy family when she was 15 - unfortunately, the man of the house was a sex predator and she became pregnant, so my Dad was born into that big, poor family with his mother's family name. They raised him to be a good, decent citizen, husband and father. No reason for shame. No reason to pretend it didn't happen that way. No reason to pretend I am any better or worse than anyone else because of my heritage. I am an American.

[Conservababe]

You are an American and so am I. Your grandmother raised her son to be a nice man, with or without the social reprisals. She was a brave woman, deserving of your praise.

[null and void]

No reason to pretend I am any better or worse than anyone else because of my heritage. I am an American.

A better and more concise statement of what it really means to be an American is hard to imagine.

[catpuppy]

Dad was born into that big, poor family with his mother's family name. They raised him to be a good, decent citizen, husband and father

Nicely done, Valerie. Stories like your father's show that being born poor does not have to mean growing up bad. I think today we are all too ready to claim and to accept poverty as an excuse for evil.