Sheila

One of the interesting things about my childhood is that I lived in a place called Greenwood, B.C. It was one of the places where the Japanese were sent during World War II, so I grew up in a predominantly Japanese community. Most of my friends were Japanese. I think that had a lot of influence on how I saw the world and gave me a sense of knowing what it is like to be a minority.

Greenwood was a little tiny town. There wasn’t much there, so I came to Vancouver to work. I got married quite young, before I turned 21. I also had four children. I worked for the City of Burnaby in the accounting department, along with a few other jobs. It wasn’t because I liked it—I just wanted a job. I took an accounting course at some point. I liked math in school, but I didn’t like accounting and I don’t like paperwork since I can never keep it organized. It was good to have a job, though. I met new people and brought in money to help raise my four kids.

My hobbies include music and reading. I also enjoy travelling and have travelled a fair bit. As a family, we moved to the Fiji Islands for six months. My husband worked in television, and they were making programs on the South Pacific Islands, so we moved to Fiji. Three of my four kids were in school, and one was not in school yet. I’ve also travelled to other places including Japan, Mexico, and Europe. I really liked Fiji since it is such a different culture, different climate, different everything. It was a very formative move for my family: this big adventure that we did together. I also love Provence, the south of France, and I found Mexico fascinating. My husband and I visited the ruins and learned a lot of the history, which, unfortunately, we had never really learned in school, even though it is part of the same continent as us.

I didn’t start writing until I was sort of mid-life and now I have two published poetry books. I don’t call poetry a hobby—it’s too important. It’s who I am: a poet. I write my poetry about everything. Sometimes you just get a phrase or see a thing, or something that happens will just keep going around in your head and you realize that you have to say something about it. Lately, because I’m old now, I tend to think about death more and the passing of time. Life is so brief in a way. It comes and then it’s gone. In my first book, the first section is about my background and my childhood in Greenwood. The second section is mainly about my husband. He passed away 15 years ago, so it is about loss. The third section is just miscellaneous things. The second book is about my house in Burnaby that I lived in for almost 58 years. It was such a wrench to sell it and move out, so it is mostly about the house and losing it.

I moved to my current retirement living community in 2018, so that makes it seven years that I have been here. I like it very much. The main thing I like about it is the people. I’ve made some very good friends who have interesting life stories. I’ve learned a lot about both the people living here and those overseeing the place, and they’re all very kind and helpful. The other reason I like it is that it's quite close to two of my children. They live about a five-minute drive away so when I’ve had trouble with illness or during COVID, it’s nice to have the ones I love nearby.

I’m a Christian and I’m a person of faith, so that part is very important to me. I came to my faith in my 20s—it wasn’t something I had from youth. I also think my belief in the value of people is really important. The value of really seeing others and being able to focus your attention on someone. It’s not always easy, and it doesn’t always come naturally, but to really value the time you have either with your family or the people you meet.

When I look out of my window, I can see the trees and I can see Grouse Mountain. In the winter, when I get up, it’s still dark, and I just sit and have my coffee and toast. I am just thankful that even though it is dark and maybe raining, and maybe I don’t feel so well, those lights are sparkling up there for me.