|
Back in School after Forty-One
Years
By Lucy Ward
|
Lucy
Ward
|
On April 1, I was fifty-seven years old.
I grew up on the South Coast of Newfoundland. I was born in a very small
community called Corbin. There were very few people living there. We didn't
have any roads. We traveled by boat. It was hard for us to get a teacher. There
was no place for a teacher to stay because there were no boarding houses where
I lived. I didn't go to school until I was eight years old. My parents moved to
Belloram when I was |
| ten. I went to school there and got my
Grade five. I didn't like school back then. Now, I wish I had stayed. I was
more interested in going to work. I left school at the age of fifteen to look
for a job. I got a job at the fish plant in Grand Bank. |
I left the fish plant when I was about to turn eighteen. I
moved to Harbour Breton and got a job babysitting. That is where I met my first
husband. I got married when I was eighteen. I had five children. In 1970, I
lost one of my children at the age of five weeks. There was more disappointment
to come. My husband died when my oldest was nine.
I moved back to Belloram and lived with my mother after my
husband died. After a short while I moved out and got my own place and raised
my family on my own. Times were really hard. I had to raise a family on social
assistance. It wasn't easy.
In 1987 after my children were raised I got married again.
We moved to Grand Falls-Windsor. Last year we separated and I moved into a
Transition House in Gander. The people there helped me get back on my feet. I
told them I had always wanted to go back to school. I was concerned about my
age but soon realized that age was just a number and I should never let it
stand in my way. I discussed this with my family and they gave me
encouragement. I felt very frightened and scared the first day I started
school. I was worried I didn't belong.
Today I feel differently. I feel like I made the right
decision. I feel a lot better about myself. I know I have improved in the short
time I have been here. I am much more comfortable now. Reading and writing had
always been a problem in my life. I wanted to be more independent. I realize I
may be too old to find a job when I finish school but I want to be independent.
I know I have a long way to go.
I encourage everyone who reads this to come back. You are
not too old. I feel great because I made the right move. You will get over the
fear. You have nothing to lose. I like getting out. I have made new friends and
I meet new people every day. Maybe I will get a job when I finish because of
all the experience I have at my age. If I don't get a job I still win because I
will be able to do more things for myself and that makes me feel good
inside! |
