Melba Jacqueline "Jackie" Shirley was born in 1931. She was the middle child with one sister and four brothers. She says that she didn't mind being the middle child because she learned a lot of things and says it makes ya smarter, though you don't get a lot of attention.

When Jackie was younger her first pet that she remembers was a pig. She says that her father use to raise and sell pigs at their farm. She nursed the runt of the liter back to health after being told it might die. She says that she looked forward to feeding that pig every single day. After getting much love from Jackie, the pig was big and healthy enough to sell.

Jackie's first job was washing dishes at the age of 4, she watched her family do them and when they walked away she would pull up a chair to the sink and she would wash the dishes for them. Her second job was in the fields, pulling out weeds. When not doing chores for her family she would play ball.

At the age of 7, she was given a large ball for Christmas. She adored it, she said to me with a smile. Then later that day she and her family went to a family friends house. Her sister, who is five years older than her, and her friends took the ball from Jackie and played keep away. As she complained to her dad, he promised her a spanking if she didn't keep quiet. She laughed and told me she instantly shut up.

She tells me that the childhood memory that she remembers the most was that when she was younger, maybe five years old, she had something in her hands, not clearly sure what it was, but she knew she wasn't supposed to have it. When she heard her mother coming she took off running. She says that she's never been so afraid of her mother before until this moment and gotten in trouble for running.

At the age of 9, Jackie lost her mother due to an illness. She was really hurt but she got on with life, and before having to quit school she played basketball. She wanted to be a teacher because she loves helping people and would do anything for them so they could reach their goals.

Jackie didn't have a specific hero just that any teacher she liked at the moment was a hero to her. She was quite shy as a preteen and was easily embarrassed. She felt that she couldn't live up to the expectations that people had of her because she felt that her older sister was perfect. She felt as if people were expecting her to be the same.

At the age of 13, her family had broken up and she was placed on a bus and was sent to aunt's house. She said that her father didn't care which aunt she went to. On the bus she met a girl who had recently graduated and had gotten off the bus with her and was given a job at a drug store. She smiled sheepishly and told me she lied about her age. She told them she was sixteen when she was fourteen.

When her family broke up she had to quit school to go to her aunts but never made it. She never did return to school until later in her life. Her biggest regret is not being able to finish high school when she was a teenager to get her high school diploma. Jackie says, "Education is really important and a gift. Please, please, don't waste it like I did."

It wasn't tell she was 39 when she was finally able to take a night class at Chapman high school to get her high school diploma, and by then she had five children of her own. She said she burst into tears when she got her diploma.

Jackie said to me that she's never really felt proud in her work and was always surprised herself when she succeeded at something. When she thought deeply about this, she said her proudest moment was when she helped her daughter-in-law graduate. She didn't want her daughter-in-law to end up like her and regret not finishing high school early.

She told me that she never really had a bucket list and doesn't really want to do anything because she's happy with her life. But I feel slightly different about that because the poor woman buys so many things online to get some companionship and have someone to talk to even if it was just for a few minutes. She gave me and my sister a hundred dollars each for just listening to her. She's such a wonderful woman and I feel bad that I couldn't spend more time talking to her face to face for this project. Thanks Jackie! Love you!