Shandi Strong: I Get Goosebumps
She ran for the Liberals in this riding in 2016. During this election, there will be no incumbent in the riding so her odds of success are already increased. Having worked in the Legislature for the past few years, she has been aware that an election would be called this year so she has been knocking of doors for a couple of months now. Her campaign literature is ready to go and she is hoping residents of Wolseley want to help her make history.
I am secretly intimidated sitting down with someone who might be making history for being the first. I am aware that anyone who is going to be the first of anything means they already have a personal history of being a trailblazer. For Shandi, one of her important milestones was being the first Trans Pride Parade Marshall in Winnipeg in 2015. As I say, I am always intimidated sitting with a trailblazer because I know their journey has not been an easy one and I just feel guilty that there were few obstacles in my life yet I have accomplished so little. Shandi has experienced many obstacles in her life and has accomplished so much.
So, I was prepared to be intimidated and I was, however, it wasn't for the reason I thought it would be. Shandi is just a beautiful woman. Her skin is absolutely flawless and her hair just suits her personality. Stylish without trying. More troubling for me is that she is 59 years old. I was about to say that it is not fair for her to be looking like a 29 year old, but then I stopped. When it comes to being "not fair", the universe owes her on this one. Her journey is nothing short of remarkable and I never could do it full justice, but, it is an important journey and I encourage everyone to read her book, "Growing a Pair" to get her first-hand account of her life.
For me, there were so many striking moments in her story that made my jaw drop. Yes, both of her marriages dissolved dramatically and with a sense of betrayal. Yes, she was fired the day that she came out to her employer. Yes, her daughters were out of her life for a period of time. Yes, she had difficulty getting a job or jobs and at one point survived on welfare. I expected to hear about the challenges on her journey but I was also expecting to hear that those challenges occurred in the early 70s. No, it turns out that she was fired from her long-time job in 2010. That was less than a decade ago. The shame of her being fired from her job in 2010 is not on her; it is on all of us. How did we allow for such blatant discrimination occur in this decade.
Personally, if I had encountered so many obstacles just by virtue of being how I was, I think I would be bitter. Shandi is not bitter and speaks matter of factly about her life. She developed a thick skin early in life. I also wondered if she felt the responsibility to be a spokesperson and advocate in her community ever was too much. Absolutely not. Actually, she feels she is not doing enough because she has received so much support in her community that she feels she is not giving back enough.
When she talked about her journey, she talked about most wanting to be seen as a normal person. She talked about this lofty goal as being perceived as a normal person so often that I didn't want to burst this bubble for her. There is actually no such thing as a normal person.
But, as she talked, it seemed that she wanted to see herself. It sounded complicated but it really wasn't. She wanted to look in the mirror and she her true self. She talked that it was hard to see herself as being just who she was. She just wanted a sense of this is who I am and it is ok. I listened intently but I am sure I can never really understand. I've always seen myself when I look in the mirror. Sometimes not the best version of myself, but I have always been able to see myself. She felt that I must have struggled with this myself because I was different being a left-handed red-head. Wow. A person who has given so much of herself just to be herself and yet she still felt empathy for my struggle for acceptance being a left-handed red-head. Yeah, it really hasn't been a struggle and I felt so deeply humbled by her humanity.
Despite everything that she has lived through, the most emotion she showed during our time together was when she was talking about the positive. She talked about giving a speech as Pride Parade Marshall in 2015. She said many people came up to her afterwords and told her that she made them cry and she made them think. Those were her two goals and her expectations were exceeded. Look at me, she said, I still get goosebumps just thinking about this.
Unfortunately, at times, she had to take some jobs for some pretty soul-less companies, but now she is working in the Legislature and she is helping people. She talked about the important role that she plays by listening to people, helping them when she can, and making a positive difference in many people's lives. Look at me, she said, I get goosebumps just talking about this.
Enhancing health care is an issue at the top of her list as well as our environment. She sincerely feels that if we work together as a province that we can be carbon neutral by the year 2030. Actually, she doesn't feel it would be much work to achieve but it does require a small commitment by all of us.
She has achieved some of her lofty goals like sky-diving, for example. Her loftiest goal has also been achieved as her children have found their way back into her life. But, at 59, she is still working on goals. She also wants to be a two-term MLA to prove that her election wasn't just a fluke. She just wants to be seen as someone who cares about the world.
She also has a goal that she just wants to be an ordinary person. Again, I didn't have the heart to tell her that she will never be an ordinary person. She is too extraordinary.
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