Speaking of Grandmothers - Sharon Carstairs did

Thursday this week, at the luncheon featuring inspiring women, Sharon Carstairs talked about her grandmother. She had 18 children. The youngest was Sharon’s mother. Determined that her children would have better opportunity than she had, Sharon’s grandmother left her husband behind in Cape Breton and moved, with her 12 living children to Boston. After a year, now convinced that she was not coming back, she was joined by her husband. It was to this grandmother that Sharon attributed some of her own ability to forge ahead against long odds. But it was her mother, born nine mothers after her grandfather arrived in Boston, that Sharon thanked for her career in teaching and politics. Her mother insisted she get a professional degree before she got married. Sharon did. Her Masters in Education opened the doors into the world of teaching, and that led in due course into politics. The rest is history.

The photo shows Sharon Carstairs with Bev McCaffrey at the luncheon.