Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/695583
30150 Telegraph, Suite 444 Bingham Farms, MI 48025 Your Financial Issues THAV GROSS has been solving problems since 1982. Be sure to tune in to Law and Reality – Sunday mornings at 11 AM on TV20. Your Legal Issues thavgross.com lawandreality.com Do NOT use your IRA or Retirement to Pay Credit Card Debt. Elderly clients often come to our office seeking help with their debt situation. In almost every case, before they have come to see us, they have withdrawn retirement funds - IRAs and 401ks - to pay bills. I cringe at this. It is a terrible mistake. Retirement funds are there to provide the supplemental income beyond social security that is needed to cover living expenses through retirement. When we stop working – our income is capped but inflation and our lifespans are not. You must make sure retirement funds are used wisely. IRAs and retirement funds are protected in bankruptcy – which means you can keep that money and eliminate the credit card debt. Another little known fact is that a normal creditor cannot garnish or levy on your social security income. These two facts – combined – mean that you should NOT use your retirement funds to pay down debt. If you're retired and in this situation – you should come see us right away. If your parents are in this situation – you need to take action now. When their funds are exhausted, providing for their support is on you. "You can't just keep paying until you're broke." Ask Attorney Ken Gross about... viewpoints » S e n d l e t t e r s t o : l e t t e r s @ t h e j e w i s h n e w s . c o m June 23 • 2016 5 nostalgia Catering The Riot S ummer was coming that June with the delicious promise of being the same as many I'd known before. Our elementary school would be out the week after next, and we'd soon fill our days inventing ways to fill our days. The canvas awning already was up over the porch, turning the front of our house into an open- air shelter where we were safe from heat and rain. But this June, we'd soon learn, our covered porch would pro- tect us from more than sun and storms. Summer vacation would start differently. The final days of school would be canceled. And we'd hear that soldiers were headed our way. Our house was on the corner of Tuxedo and Lawton. Its location appealed to the National Guard lieutenant who was scout- ing sentry positions throughout the neigh- borhood. He especially liked the corner- pieces of our porch and the front-steps enclosures. Large, square brick columns with concrete slabs on top. He thought that one of these would be ideal for setting up the automatic rifle, in its time a most potent of military weapons. It was a Tuesday when the lieutenant and his squad arrived at our house. They'd come to Detroit from their home base in Owosso to join with other federal troops sent by President Roosevelt. Three days before — the evening of Saturday, June 20, 1943 — something reportedly had happened on Belle Isle, the island park in the Detroit River. Some kind of fight. It spread across the bridge to city streets. And now we were hear- ing that people around town were harming each other. In a tableau of Americans' rights, the lieutenant and my mother acted out the Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which assures that "No soldier shall be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner." It didn't matter to the Constitution that we were renters. "Yes," Mother said, "you may use our porch. Where are you boys going to sleep?" "They have cots for us at the high school." "What about food?" "Field rations. And they'll probably send us sandwiches." Mother laughed. "Sandwiches? Sandwiches? Just wait until you taste my stuffed cabbage rolls. And my baked chicken. And how about slow-roasted beef brisket? If you're still here Friday night, you'll have brisket. If not, you'll have it before." To teenage boys from Owosso, a town possibly famous only for being the birth- place of Thomas Dewey, it probably made as little sense as it did to me that Mother was planning menus in the face of death. With each morning came new dining bulletins from Mother. There was talk of baked fish, Swiss steak and homemade beet borscht with boiled potatoes. "How often do you boys get chopped chicken liver in Owosso?" What are the chances that Thomas Dewey's mother made chopped chicken liver? By the time the riot would end, 34 per- sons would have been killed, about 500 would be reported as injured, almost 2,000 would be arrested and property damage would total millions. "Thanks for everything," the lieuten- ant said one afternoon some days later. "Thanks and goodbye." The fighting in the streets had ended and orders had come for all the troops to leave. In a blink, the porch was hollowed out. That evening, we sat quietly on the glider. It was a different porch without the automatic rifle. "I was going to make chicken soup," Mother said in rhythm to the squeak of the glider's hinges, "with matzah balls. Maybe make stuffed kishka. You know, there's still plenty of food in the house. They could have rioted a few more days." * Norman Prady, 82, is a journalist and author living in Berkley. The Prady house with its awning- covered porch at Tuxedo and Lawton avenues in Detroit Norman Prady A Walk For Israel Ally Remembered Regarding the May 26 "Walk For Israel" article (page 14), I am pleased to point out that the Greater West Bloomfield Republican team (GWBR) was a sponsor for the third year. Our float this year was dedicated to the memory of steadfast Israel supporter and GWBR board member and officer Sheldon Blair. Sheldon was very active in the Walk for Israel and inspired us with his courage. William J. Rauwerdink GWBR Board Member West Bloomfield letters Letters to the Editor: We prefer letters that relate to articles in the Jewish News. We reserve the right to edit or reject letters. Brevity is encouraged. Letters published will include the name and city of residence of the writer. Letters submitted must contain the name, address, title of the writer (if applicable) and a daytime phone number. We prefer emailed letters. Please email to letters@thejewishnews.com. (Letters sent by U.S. Postal Service must be hand-signed and mailed to the Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034.)