A personal story about freedom and opportunity
Hello Friends and Neighbors,
As we get closer to the 250th anniversary of our country’s founding, I’ve been thinking a lot about what America has meant to my family and what it means to me.
For me, that story begins at home. I learned what public service looks like by watching my parents and grandparents live it every day. My father, a Vietnam veteran and Bronx OB-GYN, spent his career caring for patients who often couldn’t afford to pay. My mother, a public school teacher, taught me the importance of education, kindness, and showing up for others.
My grandparents’ stories shaped me just as much. My mother’s parents were forced to flee Nazi Germany and were incredibly fortunate to rebuild their lives here in America. My father’s parents ran a small flower shop in Brooklyn, working long hours—especially around holidays—to support their family. And my mother’s cousin escaped from Communist Hungary, where opportunity and freedom were limited. In America, he found something very different—the ability to build a life, practice his faith, participate in a market economy, and have a voice in free elections.
That’s what the American Dream has meant to my family—the chance to freely pursue your own path and build something of your own through commitment and hard work. And, it has also meant something more: a responsibility to give back and make sure the next generation has the same opportunity.
As a parent of three children and aunt to ten others, I care about the kind of future they will inherit, and I think about our role and responsibility in shaping it.
That’s a large reason behind my commitment to public service and my belief that our government must protect individual rights and liberties and deliver for people in tangible ways.
As we approach this milestone 250th anniversary, it’s a good moment to reflect on what we’ve inherited and what we want to pass on. Our democracy isn’t something we can take for granted. It’s something we all have a role in protecting and strengthening.
That’s work worth doing—and it’s why I’m running now for State Senate.
I hope you’ll join me in this effort.
With gratitude,
Jill