Anne Cheer

Interview 2012.

So what do you want to know?

Ok Grandma, what’s your story? What do you mean what’s my story?

Um… You don’t want to know the soppy bits.

What do you do? What do I do? I’m in a retirement village. 

What do you do there? What do I do there? I’m the cheer person of the Village committee. You want to know all the things I do there? 

Just in general. Are you popular? Well how would you know? I keep very busy. I try to go to everything that’s on, and there are lots of functions on. Just say I’m on the Village committee.

Ok. And I’m involved with as many activities in the Village as it’s possible to be. I go to Probus. I go to Thai Chi at the Village and I go to, well I go to all the functions that are on there that I can. I go out every week on the mystery trip. 

Have you always been this busy? Have I always been this busy? Ooo, I’ve always been busy. 

What did you do before you retired? What did I do before I retired? I was a teacher dear.

Do you miss being a teacher? Yes.

Why? Because it’s a challenging occupation, and I miss doing reading recovery. Because I changed direction from being an assistant principal, to doing reading recovery, ten years before I retired, and I really miss it. I miss the challenge of working with children with reading problems. Reading is my passion. You haven’t written anything down?

It’s being recorded… Oh, I see what you mean. Reading is my passion. 

Cool. So you went into teaching to help children? Um, I’d always wanted to be a teacher; my ambition was to become a teacher. When I left AGGS, that’s Auckland Girls Grammar School, I went onto Teacher’s College, residential college in those days. It was a very good college.

Do you think, um… Do I think what?

Like… do you wish you’d done something else? No not really. No. I was very happy as a teacher. Working with basically five’s sixes and sevens, basically fives, but sixes and sevens at different stages. 

What’s the most valuable thing you learned from being a teacher? The most valuable thing? Patience and tolerance.

The most valuable thing? Patience and tolerance.

What are you going to do in the future? What will I do in the future? Well I’m going to keep very active for as long as I can. I’m going to continue going to aerobics as long as I can. I’m going to continue walking as much as I can, and doing all the things I like doing. I like going to cultural things. For instance last week I went to the air force band, I went to the vector orchestra in wellington and I went at Te Papa. So that’s neat. And these are the sorts of things I like doing, I really do. I like to be kept busy all the time. I quite like organising things too. 

Do you think it’s important to keep busy, in life? Yes.

Same. Otherwise you can get depressed, and you know. Life just doesn’t have any meaning if you’re not busy. Not just for me, but even for you. You’re busy. 

Yea, bit busy. Any words of wisdom for younger people? Yes. I would advise people, and you do this so I don’t have to worry about you, is to live by the golden rule. I think the golden rule is the most essential thing.

What’s the golden rule? To do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you don’t want people to be nasty to you, then you shouldn’t be nasty to anybody else. Agreed?

Agreed. My uncle taught me that, many many years ago. He never went to church but he believed in the golden rule, and he lived by it. 

If you don’t want people to be nasty to you, then you shouldn’t be nasty to anybody else.

No doubt. I just think that’s what you’ve got to do. 

If you could change one thing about the way the world is, what would it be? I’d like to see people live peacefully, and harmoniously, together. Which is a big ask isn’t it.

It is. How do you suggest making that happen? Well that’s also a big ask. I don’t know. I’d like to see it happen, and also id like to see a bit more fairness over the board. Wouldn’t you like to see more fairness over the board?

Yea. And that’s not happening today. And not just in New Zealand, but all over the world. You’ve got the haves and the have not’s and I just don’t like that. Do you really want to be a big have? It’s just, all you want is enough money to live on happily, without wanting. But to have masses and masses and masses of money, well look what happens to them. They get very unhappy a lot of them.

They turn into have not’s, full circle. Yea. So it’s just nice to have enough money. What else do you want to know?

What else would you like to tell the zine? What else do I want to tell it? Well I don’t know. What sort of things do you need for it?

I need to know your inspirations, or something cheesy like that. Well I’m a bit old now to have inspirations aren’t I?

Why’s that? Well no, I do think, and I will say this, that once you stop learning, you might as well give up. See I’ve got computers, and an iPhone and goodness knows what else, and I like to keep learning all the time, and it is important. 

Yea, I agree. If you stop learning I guess you have given up. Yea. And there are people I know who have done just that. Because they think that they’ve learned all there is to learn, and they just wont even try. It’s the same with being active. I believe also you’ve got to be active, in mind and body. 

And have a cat. I’d like a cat, but I haven’t got him. It really didn’t work out. Unfortunately, but a cat’s company.

Well I think that’s enough Grandma, you can spell check it for me. I’ve had an interesting life. I’ve had quite a lot happen to me in my life, I’ve always been busy though, always.