Today's Golden age session is of the very lively Shirley Anne Bartholomew. Shirley is under 80, so her loved ones booked her in for a session so she could still tell her story. (Under 80 year olds can participate for a small fee)
A couple of firsts for me today.. when Shirley arrived, a rainbow hung in the sky, so I quickly ushered her over for a shot while it was still in sight. Shirley is also, as far as I am aware, my first tattooed Golden age session participant. She has two on her wrists, & one in a place I cannot show... although she did get brave & show me where it was at the end of our session haha
Born13th Feb 1950 at St Leonard’s in Sydney.
She was one of 4 children. With only herself & her brother remaining.
Shirley grew up in Narraweena,
They lived in a Fibro house that her dad built as he was a builder. Shirley classed herself fortunate as the older siblings had to live in tents & a shed while her Dad built the house, room by room. The house was complete by the time she had to move in.
Her mother was a stay at home Mum. She recalls her cooking over an open fire for all their meals.
Shirley went to school at Narraweena, then French's Forest high school then Gosford Highschool,
She left school at age 16 & got her first job at Suzie Q clothes store in Gosford. Shirley said her Father was always full of great ideas, but not great with money.
He used the double block he had purchased to farm the spare land next to the house. They lived next door to chickadee chickens. Her father decided to raise chickens as well. She also recalls him catching wild pigs & raising them for meat to feed the family.
Shirl helped her father with the family chicken business in Lisarow, including killing and cleaning chickens.
As I was listening to her story, she had a memory of her dad singing a song to her.. a Tex Morton song called" black sheep of the family" she said it wasn't that he had a great voice, but the song still bring her comfort & so many warm memories of her childhood.
She also has a very fond memory on the chicken farm where she accidentally let a chicken go after beheading it and running around headless... Here I was horrified at the thought, & Shirl sat chuckling to herself at her Dad telling her off for mucking about & not getting the killing done properly.
Another of Shirl's great childhood memories was of her Aunt Bettie visiting them from America.
Shirley was married at 18 and moved to Townsville as her Husband was in the Army. From Townsville she moved to Singapore. They had their first daughter by that stage & she was around 7 months old when they moved overseas.. Shirls son was born in Singapore during their stay.
They then then moved to Wacol, then Toowoomba then Townsville then Holsworthy then Wagga then Adelaide. All due to being in the army they were moved every 2 years. Brenda was born in 1976 in Townsville, & Leanne in 1978 in Liverpool Sydney.
After 20 years of marriage, Shirley got divorced and moved to the Central Coast.
Shirley described her first Husband as chauvinist who wouldn't allow her to work. After her first marriage ended, she later worked in the kitchen at North Gosford private hospital.
Shirley married second time in 1991 to a man named Merv who was twenty years her senior. Because he was retiring, he also didn't want Shirley to work, so she could spend her days with him.
They were in the process of separating when Shirley found he had passed away in the bedroom after a battle with cancer. Shirl faced financial difficulties when he passed away as there was no widows pension available to her.
The house had to be sold as his son was also part of the inheritance & she moved to Kanwal.
Shirl said she wouldn't waste her time on another marriage as they are nothing but a hassle..
Shirley loved travelling to America when able to see her relatives. She has been to America four times. She worked as a House Cleaner for a few years where she saved her money to travel.
She had a stroke in 2001, & a heart attack in April this year!
She thought she had indigestion. The doctor did an ECG & it came back fine, but after he sent for blood tests, he called her at home to confirm she'd had a heart attack, and he had called an ambulance to come & collect her. She was most annoyed as she had another America flight planned & the heart attack stopped her being able to go.. but she already has plans to travel again as soon as she is able.
Shirl enjoys sewing, quilting, and traveling to visit family. She also enjoys orchid growing.
Shirl told me her Mum passed away just shy of her 99th birthday. & her Dad passed away at 88. She also lost 3 loved ones all in the same year to cancer. Which was very hard on her heart.
Her mum passed 12 years to the day of her dads passing.
Shirley now lives in Gwandalan with her daughter.
She has 7 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild who she is yet to meet as she lives on the Gold Coast.
