An Afternoon with Shirley

To learn about the past, one of the best ways is to hear it through the voices of those who have experienced it. Today our group was able to do this as we spent time with senior citizens at a center. These are people who have spent their whole lives in New Orleans. They have experienced things that we have only read about and they lived through the largest disaster to hit the state. These are stories that some of the people there shared with members of our group, but the woman that I talked to did not and instead she just talked about her life.
 Shirley is a woman who is 80 years old, but does not look like she is any older than late fifties/early sixties. She had a kind face and was happy to talk as I sat with her. Shirley talked about a lot of things, but her two favorite topics were food and her family. Because of this, I knew that there was a reason that I must have been drawn to this woman; she reminded me of my grandma whom I lost this past summer. Although there were physically no similarities at all, the things that she loved the most were the same. This woman that I spoke to for only a few hours showed how much love she has for her family, a family that she was fortunate enough not to lose in the hurricane. She is now helping raise her 11 year old grandson and she only wants what is best for him and for her children.
   Shirley reflected all of the hard work that she has done in her life. She worked hard to save money so that she could buy the house that she has lived in for 28 years. She put her children through school and brags about the accomplishments that they have made. Her daughters have left the state to get better jobs, which is something that she knew they would never have in New Orleans. Shirley did not have the same chances that her children and grandchildren do. She opened my eyes to the struggles that an African American woman has to face and how they are working to overcome them. She is a truly beautiful woman who reminded me so much of another wonderful woman whom I love so much and I am so happy that I was able to meet her and that we all had the chance to meet the citizens who come to the center, for they all had a story that made the history of New Orleans seem real to us.

Haley Clark