Meet my brother Tony

To the Editor,

I wanted to introduce my brother, Tony, to you. Sadly, he passed away several years ago but his story is still relevant.

Tony was born in 1945, the fifth child of eight. Due to a difficult birth, Tony did have some brain damage and so was considered “mentally retarded.”  While Tony’s life was challenging for the family, in most ways he fit right in annoying his youngest sister (me) with great zest. In fifth and sixth grade I can remember the taunts of, “Your brother is retarded.” Because that’s what boys of that maturity level did.    

There were not a lot of services available to someone like Tony, so my parents did many things to help improve his life and those of his population which were underserved. Fast forward many years and life found Tony living in an apartment with a roommate (with some supervision) and working at a job for over 25 years that gave him a 401K and a watch when he retired.  Not bad for someone who is  “retarded.”

Imagine my sadness when a man who would have us think that he is the man for the most important job in our country, calls out his opponent as “retarded.” I would say he was right with those fifth and sixth grade boys who thought saying “retarded” was a cool thing to do.

When will his followers say enough is enough? 

Teresa Plas

Van Wert