Shirley Learns from the School of Life

Shirley Learns from the School of Life

Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent

Shirley McCullough is a friendly and mentally strong lady who tries to live as full a life as she possibly can with her health conditions that include arthritis, fibromyalgia, and an anxiety disorder.

Shirley was born in New Market, Ontario in 1956. She was the oldest of six children and said her parents were strict with her but they eased up later on the other kids. She found this hard because she felt she never got to experience things that she should have.

Shirley’s earliest memory was when she was little; a china cabinet fell on top of her. Her parents never sent her to the hospital because her parents didn’t believe in going to the doctor, not unless it was absolutely necessary.

Shirley’s family lived in this small town in Ontario until she was 10 and then her family moved to a small town in British Columbia. Her family was quite poor but she still had a few store-bought dolls. However, her family couldn’t afford to have their children go to events or participate in different clubs and activities. So, Shirley said she felt that she missed out because she would have liked to belong to Brownies, Girl Guides or a sports program. “But I did join a basketball team at school because this didn’t cost anything which was a lot of fun to take part in.”

School was really good for Shirley. She did really well academically until she reached the higher grades. After, she finished Grade 11; she worked in the summer holidays and left school because she kept on working. Her first job was at a dairy bar where she was a waitress which she really enjoyed.

Shirley met her first husband in school in grade nine which she said they just hit it off and were very attracted to each other. They hung around a lot together. After they got married, her husband used to go out and party by himself. She used to go to parties too but she felt left out when he went by himself. They couldn’t have any children. The marriage only last seven years because they were young and not ready to settle down. A few years later, he met another woman and got married to her.

After that, Shirley met another man at a bar who she thought seemed really nice. Shirley said today she realizes that is a bad way to meet people because things never seem to turn out if you are around that atmosphere. He had a baby daughter with another woman before he married her. At first, the marriage was good. Shirley liked and got along well with her step-daughter. But when her daughter became older, Shirley worked at a dry cleaner. She didn’t have any time for anything. She felt her husband was a good man but he put his daughter first too much and didn’t help her a lot with the household tasks. They then left each other.

Then Shirley had a common-law husband who left her after spending 17 years living with her. “He just took the van and left me to go back to Ontario. This really hurt me! It still does! I felt he was just using me. I learned from these relationships that a woman is better off to stay single. They will have way less trouble in their lives. I’m happy today by myself.”

Shirley had some fun in life as she enjoys traveling and she still remembers the one and only trip she took to Mexico. She just loved Mexico as the people are so laid back and friendly there. As well, she had two dogs and other pets in her life which brought her a lot of joy!

The advice Shirley would give younger people is to enjoy your life to the fullest; make sure to enjoy each day because you don’t know what is going to happen. Don’t look forward to retirement just enjoy your life when you can do things. Also, don’t ever start smoking because it does damage to your health and it is really hard to quit. Even if you don’t think it will harm you now, it will later.

Shirley moved to Homestead Senior Citizen’s Lodge three years ago from Mannville. It was really hard when she first moved to this home because she was so used to working and then she couldn’t work. She really liked working and her favorite job was being a housekeeper at the hospital because she worked around people. She likes it in this home now because she has all her needs taken care of. She couldn’t do anything when she lived in Mannville. She copes with her health conditions by taking medications, doing adult coloring books, sewing, and playing cards with the residents.