Dear Editor:
I have had the privilege of spending many days with my wife Beth Mason on the campaign trail as she asks the voters to elect her Mayor on May 12th. But I can honestly say the thought of Beth running for Mayor was the farthest thing from my mind when we moved here 25 years ago. We came from Richmond, Virginia, where we both grew up in middle class households (my dad worked at a radio station, and my mom was a nurse) and where we met in college at Virginia Commonwealth University. We came to this area because after being a two-time college dropout, I had finally gotten my act together at VCU, done well academically, and been accepted to NYU Law School. Beth had graduated from VCU with a mass communications degree and was determined to find a job in advertising in New York City.
Beth and I had no money when we got to Hoboken in August 1984: we had put ourselves through VCU by working at a local drug store and other odd jobs, and by borrowing many tens of thousands dollars in student loans. In fact, we chose Hoboken primarily because it had rent control. Our first apartment was a small one-bedroom at 9th and Washington. We were so short of funds that we figured we had only until the end of October for Beth to get a job, and if she didn’t, I would have to drop out of school (again) and we would have to move back to Richmond. With one week to go before the money ran out, Beth got the job we needed to stay here, as a junior assistant at a small firm for the sum of $14,000 a year. Slowly we began to get our footing, as I graduated from NYU and got a law firm job; she ascended the advertising ranks in New York City (eventually to become president of an agency); we moved first to a brownstone on Washington, and then to our house on Hudson Street, which we have restored over the last fifteen years; and finally we had two beautiful kids.
As I meet voters with my wife and hear their stories, I think about ours quite a bit. Although we live in a big house now, it wasn’t always that way, as you can see. And although at first we barely spent any time here, as we focused on work and school in New York City, we gradually came to understand that we live in a very special place. For all of its foibles, and for all of the fiscal mess that my wife is trying to clean up, Hoboken is a wonderful town full of rich diversity and great people. Spending time with Beth on the campaign trail has made me understand and appreciate that even more.
Sincerely,
Ricky Mason