Letter to the editor: Do the right thing, vote for Jon Tester

I was born and raised in Montana in the late 1950s, 60s and early 70s. My parents were divorced, my mom remarried, then divorced again, and we moved around a lot. People my age from Montana will look at that last sentence and go: 'He's a Montanan.'

I lived in Missoula, Helena, Bozeman and Polson. I went to nine different public schools before graduating from Hellgate High in Missoula in 1973. My grandmother, Edna Olson, opened and ran Olson's Grocery on Higgins Avenue in Missoula for 32 years. My grandfather Oscar ran the adjacent watch repair shop — a quiet fellow.

I moved out of Montana for better job prospects in my field, but I always thought I would eventually move back there someday. Why not? It is the last best place after all, and I think all people born there feel a special connection to it. Plenty of people from outside seem almost desperate to claim Montana as their 'real' home. I guess I should consider myself fortunate that my mother's womb just happened to be at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula when I entered the world. (Others may complain about the location of their mother's womb at birth, but not I).

For crying out loud, Montanans — do the right thing and vote for Jon Tester. Let's at least try to keep Montanans running Montana. Geez.

Marcus Olson,

Salisbury, Connecticut