No handouts in grandparents’ era

I am writing because I get highly incensed by some of the letters I read in your paper comparing the immigrants of today with those way back when, in my grandparents’ time.

A family of six, including my dad, immigrated to the U.S. by boat from Norway. Probably with not much more than the clothes on their back!

My grandparents lived in a sod shanty with a dirt floor. They raised everything they ate. No going to the supermarket back then. They worked hard for everything they acquired and managed to raise their family. There were no handouts or government programs or welfare to turn to. I am 90 years old and appreciate all we have now — but I know for a fact the hard times my ancestors endured.

So please don’t compare the immigrants of today with those back then. There is simply no comparison!

Florence Murbach

Lynnwood