National Adult Literacy Database

August 13, 2001

The following poem was written by Evelyn MacDonald, from Kelowna, BC. Evelyn is a 92 year-old lady who lives in a care facility. In her later years, she has found a sense of adventure with words. Her formal education was cut short at the age of 13, when she was found to be hearing impaired. Also, her mother died that year and Evelyn was put in charge of running the home for her father and siblings. "Self-education" became Evelyn's goal and she took advantage of every opportunity for learning. Even the local librarian encouraged Evelyn in her pursuit of knowledge. However, Evelyn had never thought about poetry and rhyme until tutors from Project Literacy Kelowna started 'playing' with words and word association. She produced several poems and now keeps a note pad beside her at all times "to capture those special thoughts that come out of nowhere", she says. Here's proof that learning has no age restrictions.

Carnation Corsage

by Evelyn MacDonald

I have a flower that is white as snow
I cut it off, now it won't grow
Its perfume smells so nice and sweet
On Mother's Day, it was my treat.

[This story was taken with permission, from a compilation of stories by the participants of Project Literacy Kelowna Society's one-to-one adult basic literacy tutoring program, Our Words IV : For the Millenium, p.26.]