Shirley is a magical child in her late seventies.
I don’t know if she ever really grew up, but she has led quite an interesting life: she’s been all over Canada, married twice, had a couple of children, and ran a boarding house for years where she tried to care for people who were struggling. Her childlike naivety often gets her into trouble, such as being taken advantage of by unscrupulous contractors and tenants. Over and over again, she would ask Jesus to help her forgive them.
She talks about Jesus and the Bible to everyone, but not in a religious or pushy way. Shirley will tell you that she is full of love for everyone, the love of Jesus, and she just wants to share that with everyone.
She also loves to dress in sometimes unusual, interesting, and often brightly coloured clothing. When an interesting or unusual piece of clothing or an accessory showed up at the free clothing store at Urban Hope, we would set it aside for her.
Shirley met me at my house one afternoon to go over some legal papers I was helping her with. The interaction should have taken maybe 15 minutes, but my grumpy elderly neighbour was sitting out on our adjoining front porch. Shirley decided to teach my grumpy neighbour how to dance to the tune of “Lord of the Dance.”
We stood there on the porch for over half an hour while Shirley sang and danced a little jig over and over, encouraging us to join in. I can still hear her:
I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem I had my birth.
Dance, dance, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
Shirley rubs some people the wrong way, particularly those who are offended by her religious views. But really, she just wants everyone to be free and happy and to know that they are loved. You can’t fault her for that.
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