$64,000 question: What makes you a Montanan?

So, let me get this straight. If you are born in Montana you have special recognition as being a “Montanan.” If you choose to make Montana your home to raise your family and do business in Montana, you are not a “Montanan.”

Huh, I don’t get it. So, the fact that my husband and I chose to move to Montana in 1963 to work, raise our family, as well as retire in 1986, makes us “outsiders.” Am I confused or maybe just stupid? Would someone inform me what the magic number is to become a “Montanan?” There seems to be a lot of rhetoric on the issue that Greg Gianforte is not from Montana. OK, I get that. But he and his wife Susan chose to come to Montana, raise their family and build a business that provided hundreds of jobs. I, for one, am glad they moved here. I want to personally thank the Gianfortes for their contribution of providing jobs, scholarships and donations in the State of Montana. Greg Gianforte gets my vote for Congress hands down.

—Darlene Meddock

Great Falls