Far from rich but not ‘dirt poor’

Re: Tough-talking union man had ‘a real heart of gold,’ by Trevor Wilhelm, Jan. 24.

Thank you for the wonderful article highlighting the life and career of my brother Red Wilson.

The story was enlightening for many people, I’m sure.

There is only one thing I would like to correct. You stated Red grew up in a ‘dirt poor’ family.

We grew up in a family that never had a lot of money, true.

My father was a selfemployed taxi driver who worked 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

While he slept, my oldest brother drove the cab to supplement his income from his job at the Ford Motor Company to support his family.

My mother was a real stayat-home mother who worked tirelessly to maintain the household.

In my 16 years growing up, I never did without food, clothing or shelter.

If more than that was needed, we worked for it to supplement the family income.

The definition for ‘dirt poor’ in the dictionary is “suffering from extreme poverty, down and out, destitute.”

I can tell you first-hand, we were far from any of those conditions.

I believe the term ‘dirt poor’ is a phrase that should not be used when referring to any of my family, as it takes away from the efforts made by my parents to provide for our family.

Butch Wilson, Sarnia