When I think back, sometimes I say why did I stay here this long? It wasn't fun living here, but we learned to survive. I'm a stronger person for it and I think the children are, also.

They really didn't know any of the tough times. They didn't realize it, because children didn't ask for money. They ask for security and love. Quality time, that was the thing that my children had. That was all they had. The first three years of Pansy's life, she spent in her playpen, out in the garden with me.

But it built a strong back. If I could go back to those years, with some of the knowledge that I have now, I would go back. I would change a lot of things. The possibilities and the opportunities were there. All you had to do was take it, but you needed help. It's the same thing today. There are opportunities, but you have to go for them.

After the children got older and went to school, I got a job at Deer Lake. So, I did gardening here, and worked in hotels in Deer Lake, until I left in 1977.

Iris Shears moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 1977, where she worked as matron of a senior citizens' home. At the same time she owned and managed her own tailoring shop and bought several townhouses and became a landlady. Since then she has returned to Cormack where she lives with her daughter Joy.