Without casting an opinion as to how I personally stand on the question of Sarah Palin, I would, however, like to share what my oldest daughter said to me Sept. 8 in a phone conversation.

My 30-year-old daughter lives in Baltimore. She became pregnant at 16 to a boy who was 17. My granddaughter was born while my daughter was still 16. That was 13 years ago. The marriage ended after four years, though my daughter and her ex-husband still remain good friends and are both actively engaged in raising my granddaughter.

I asked my daughter: “So what do you think of Sarah Palin?” She said: “I think she is running away from her family responsibility. She has a 4-month old ‘Down’s baby,’ who needs the love and care of both parents, and she has a 17-year-old daughter who got ‘knocked up.’ I think instead of running for vice-president, her place, right now, is home with her family.”

My daughter knows what it means to be a teen mom living in a family that was known by many due to my very public job position – and my husband’s – at that time. As I said, I am not expressing my opinion, only relating the opinion of a young woman who, as they say, “has been there, and done that.”

Susan Yaruta-Young

Blue Hill