Retire? Me? Not just yet

Stephanie Robertson, Felisha Byars, Kimberly McCartha and Shirley Moss (l-r) work on a scrapbook about their LPN course at Cherokee Technology Center. Moss, a 64-year-old great-grandmother, has decided to go back to school hoping to graduate just in time for her 65th birthday. As Shirley Moss looks toward her 65th birthday, retirement is the farthest thing from her mind. No, this great-grandmother from Blacksburg decided to go back to school and become a nurse.

“I’ve always wanted to be a nurse,” Moss said during class at Cherokee Technology Center last week. “I just could never find the time to do it, and I couldn’t quit my job at Wendell Fabrics to go back to school. In 2003, my position was eliminated and the Lord opened this door for me.”

Shirley isn’t the only member of her family that’s headed for the medical profession.

“My family has all been encouraging to me,” she added. “My granddaughter, Misty Wright, is a nurse and so when I finished helping put her through school she told me it was my turn to go. And I just felt like, why not?”

Shirley has five grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. She and her husband John “Neb” Nesbitt have two daughters; Teresa Rice of Tuluca, N.C. and Karen Patterson of Blacksburg.

“When I told Neb I wanted to go back to school, he said, ‘Do you realize you’ll be 65 when you graduate?’” she recalled. “I told him if the Lord lets me live, I’m going to be 65 anyway!”

Studying in the school’s Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program, Shirley is learning basic first aid, anatomy, pharmacology and pediatrics as part of her course load. But, she’s finding school to be more challenging this time around.

“You don’t remember things as well as you used to,” she said with a laugh. “But, I have worked as a first responder at CKC volunteer fire department for many years so that experience has helped.”

In fact, she’s already put to use some of what she’s learned.

“I was driving home from my job at Dr. Lewis’ office and I saw a man in his doorway waving his hands like he needed help,” she recalled. “This was February 20 and I was driving down Cherokee Avenue. I stopped and asked him if he was okay and he said he could not see. He told me that his vision had grown dim on Sunday and was completely gone. I couldn’t get in touch with his family. I did what I could and asked him if he wanted me to call 9-1-1. He told them to bring the ambulance. The paramedics think he had a stroke.”

An active member of Nazareth Baptist Church, Moss teaches a Sunday School class for 2and 3 year olds.

“I just have always liked helping people,” she said. “Right now the whole class is working on scrapbooks about all the things we’ve learned. On March 15, we’ll be taking them to Charleston for a competition there.”

And while the books represent an ending of the class for most students, graduation for Shirley will mean the start of a whole other chapter in her life.