Seniors with no regrets

Seeing the photograph of the large word "seniors" on the Opinion page on April 27, I was led to read Mr. Sherwin's essay. I reflected repeatedly on that word "senior" during the day. "Senior" to me is what I am: an old person and I can assure you it has very different connotations for me than for Mr. Sherwin.

While the Class of 2020 bewails its loss of proms. parties, celebrations and, yes, even trips to Hawaii, we seniors think back to our own final years in high school. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, had been bombed and so there was the USA's entry into World War II's uncertain days. For other high school graduates it was the time of the Korean War. And then there were those who finished high school with the haunting threat of the Vietnam War. And for all the boys, there was the Selective Service draft.

Our exit from high school was simple, often homemade and we were obliged to face forward to the future. Our parents who had lived through the Great Depression had no-nonsense expectations of us in whom they had invested hard-earned money. Trade school, college and university educations were intended to lead us to jobs, where we often had to start at the bottom.

Do I wish I were part of the Class of 2020? Do I regret that which never was? Not on your life, nor do any of my classmates of the class of 1959. We have led long, productive and unapologetic lives. We continue to face our future steadfastly.

Drop the crying towels, use your Hawaii and spring break money to feed the hungry and support our health and caregivers. And yes, spare a thought and a prayer for us, the real seniors of 2020.

Rosemary Haraldsson

Mundelein