Right, Left and Centre: The Politics of Some Canadians by Dave Jaffe. Chapter 43. Part Three.

   From California to Canada: One Woman's Journey Through Adulthood. By Dave Jaffe. Part Three.


     Marion Lansbury was a hardworking  teacher. She started out in Vancouver as a substitute teacher. Then she got a permanent position in a school. Soon, she went back to university and got a Master's degree in education.. She then applied for and got a job as a principal in a primary school.  Yet here she ran into problems.
     Politically speaking , Lansbury leaned to the moderate left. Although she had spent time as a child in Louisiana and then Texas, she didn't buy into the conservatism of those states' politics. She favoured strong government programs, single  payer Medicare, and had always opposed the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Still, most politics bored her. Robert her partner was a strong supporter of the New Democratic Party. Marion went once with him to an N.D.P. convention and she never went to another convention again. "It was just so boring," she said later about the convention.
    Yet despite her basic liberalism, she was a perfectionist, and had to remain in control of everything that was going on around her. "These are just typical character traits of an adult child of an alcoholic,"said one woman who heard about Marion's personality. This woman's husband taught in the school where Marion served as principal. Lansbury demanded very high standards of performances from the teachers. A teacher at the school remarked, "This woman's a fanatic. Sure this place pays my bills but I've got another life outside this place. You just can't please this lady."
    In fact, Marion Lansbury couldn't please Robert her partner any more either. She now retreated from Robert and spent days alone in the house they shared near the Vancouver waterfront. She couldn't understand why Robert loved her. Soon, they split up and Lansbury went back to teaching, and not being a principal.
      Marion Lansbury's lack of self-worth and some other hurtful features of her personality came straight from her alcoholic mother's inability to be a true and loving parent. After Lansbury retired, she went back to the United States. She journeyed into the south Pacific area and spent many happy hours in the sun. She enjoyed herself there but never overcame the trials and traumas of her childhood. Yet after all, who does?