A Life Unlived.

Shirley was born to a rather older couple. She was the only child born to these dour pinching parents. Dear Reader, I do not know why these people did not have any other children, or even why they had the one. But these church attending, holy people perpetrated a heinous crime. They did not allow her to mature.

Shirley was her father's doll and her mother's obligation. I call her Shirley because she looks like Shirley Temple. Very, very much like Shirley Temple. She has red hair with a lovely peaches and cream complection. She is smart, and witty with a ready laugh.

Her father was not a necessarily generous man, and her mother was a penny pincher. If it had not been for an aunt, Shirley would never have had shoes or clothes that fit. Mother would buy everything cheaply and several sizes too big. Auntie would take her shopping and buy her new stuff in exchange for the oversized tacky stuff that her mother would buy her.

Later when Shirley "grew up" and made her own money, she did live away from her parents for a time, however, she eventually moved back and bought a house next door to her parents.

Each and every payday, Shirley would bring her pay check home and give it to Father. He would then give her what she needed for the week and put the rest in a savings account for her and pay her bills. He bought her cars and made all her financial decisions.

Eventually the parents became feeble as the elderly do, and Shirley quit her job to take care of her parents who each in their own time passed away.

During all those years, Shirley never had a love, she never experienced the passion and pain that comes from love and sex. At 75 she is a virgin.

For years now she has lived on a pittance in her parents house having sold hers after the Parents died. She speaks of them as if they were still alive, talking about how Mother likes this or Father likes that.

Her only living relatives are a niece and nephew who live miles away. So it is up to her friends to be her family. Today my mother had to stay with her while the ambulance came to pick her up after being home only one week. Several months ago they found that she needed some stents in her heart so she had two on one side, that went well and then two weeks later she has two more. Things went very badly, she had major problems and wound up in hospital and nursing home for nine weeks. I brought her home on Tuesday of last week and today she had to go back. It was much too early for her to come home, but she persisted until she got her way.

Its hard on us, hard on her. But mostly I feel sorry for her and furious at her parents. A life unlived. She never knew any better, she never had a chance.