Volunteer still going strong

Barbara Dow, 65, is a Costa Mesa resident who is fighting cancer, yet

is still able to volunteer her time.

Where did you grow up?

In New York City and southern New Jersey. When I was 14, I moved

to South Jersey. I was born across the street from the Bronx Zoo. I

think that’s why I like animals so much. I went to high school in the

‘50s. I lived in the same town [Millville] as Bill Haley from Bill

Haley and the Comets. And he used to come to our school every year

and play for us for free. New Jersey was very rural country. We were

50 miles away from Philadelphia in New Jersey and we used to watch

“American Bandstand” every day on television. That was the biggie --

as soon as we came home from high school, turn on “American

Bandstand” and watch Dick Clark. When I lived in New York until I was

14, I used to go to movies at Radio City Music Hall, where they had

the stage show and a movie, and it was like 50 cents. So when I lived

in New York there were so many things to do -- I used to love to go

to the Museum of Natural History.

What kind of childhood did you have?

I had two sisters -- I was the middle one -- and mother and

father. Cousins living down the corner. We just did what kids do. I

had a nice, easy upbringing I think. It was a great time to grow up.

All we had to worry about was the bad kids smoking in the bathroom

and sneaking a beer. Nowadays look what the kids have to go through,

drugs and all that good stuff, so we were lucky. We grew up in a good

time. Quite a lot of freedom. We lived seven miles from town. Ride my

bike down to the lake and picked blueberries along the road. I used

to go to Radio City Music Hall.

How did you end up in Newport-Mesa?

When I was 18, I joined the Marine Corps. I didn’t want to work at

the bank or the Five and Dime. Those were the most interesting jobs

you could get right out of high school. So I joined the Marine Corps.

I was stationed in Norfolk, Va., and then El Toro. Then I went back

to New Jersey after I got out of the Marine Corps. I got a job with

the State Department and I went overseas for two years over in

Germany. And I was a cryptographer for the State Department. I

encoded and decoded messages, and then I came back to New Jersey, and

five weeks after I got my driver’s license I left for California and

drove myself out here. By the time I got to Oklahoma, I was real good

at staying centered in my lane, because that’s how you learn -- by

doing. I have been in California since 1965. I found out that the

East Coast was humid, horribly humid. I didn’t know that till I came

out to California and there was a two-year drought. It was real dry

and I went back East and I was perspiring all the time. I didn’t know

because I grew up in the humidity. I loved California and I decided

that after I came out of the state department, I wanted to come back

to California to live.

What are your greatest accomplishments in life?

Well, right now, it’s surviving cancer. I have cancer stage four,

which is the worst supposedly. A year ago this month, I had two

tumors removed and they couldn’t remove one, so it’s inoperable, so

I’ve been on chemo ever since. When I came to California, I got a job

as a mail carrier and I worked that for 14 1/2 years, and I got

injured on the job so I couldn’t do my job anymore. Then, I went to

the Crystal Cathedral and worked there for 16 years as a reader,

worked in the banking room, and then while I was there for six years,

I was a New Hope Crisis Counselor on the phone. You know, people

calling in wanting to kill themselves or they’re upset because they

had to put their mother in a home and all that kind of stuff. And you

have to try to make them feel more positive about their life. And I

think that’s why I’m handling this cancer thing so well, because I

had to be positive for them and it rubs off on you. I still have the

cancer -- I can’t change that -- but I had to change my attitude

toward it and I’m just going on with my life. Everybody at the senior

center says that I’m such an inspiration to them because even though

I have cancer I still do volunteer work over there. Like today was

our business meeting and I handed out the door prize tickets. And I

help with the Chronicle, our monthly mailer. I help get that out.

Wherever they need me to sell tickets or anything, I’m willing to do

that. So, I’m continuing on with my life.

If you could redo one moment or incident in your life, what would

it be?

I would travel a little bit more than I have. I just didn’t have

the money to do it. I haven’t seen my family in three years. That’s

what I’d like to be able to do -- go back East and see all of my

family. I have nieces and nephews that I’ve never seen and they’re 6,

7 and 9 years old. I guess I’ve had a pretty interesting life so far.

I’d like to go see America. There’s lots of places in America I’d

like to go to. I’ve read about all those places and I’d like to

actually see them.

What profession other than yours would you like to have tried?

I’d like to be a writer. I think that would be interesting because

I enjoy reading books so much and I’ve had an interesting enough life

that I wish I could write about it. I’d like to be another Nora

Roberts. She’s written over a hundred books. I would like to be an

author because you can get your feelings out and put it on paper for

other people to enjoy. Anything that is in print is kind of

permanent. It’s there -- you can always go back and redo it, reread

it or whatever, and to me, I always admire people that can write. If

I wasn’t an author, I’d be a photographer, because I can’t paint and

my camera is my canvas.

What are some differences between a typical day in your life now

versus a day in your life 20 years ago?

I highlight everything in yellow that has to do with medical stuff

and my calendar is loaded with yellow highlights every week. Twenty

years ago, I was delivering the mail. I love not working. I got up at

5:30 a.m. and got ready because at 6:30 a.m. we had to report to the

post office to deliver the mail. Came home, had dinner, watched a

little television and went to bed, and just did things on weekends.

Now, my life revolves around my cancer, and that’s OK, I don’t mind.

Also, I go to the senior center a lot and do a lot of volunteering

there. And talk to people and enjoy people. So, it’s quite a change

from what it was 20 years ago.

What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned in your life?

Go with the flow. Handle what you can handle and turn over to God

what you can’t handle because you are not alone. When you have God by

your side, you can handle just about anything, like my cancer. I’m

handling it fine. I’m not saying its 100%, you know. I have my

moments -- a little bit blue, a little bit annoyed that I have to go

to chemo and stuff like that, but knowing that I’m not totally alone.

Knowing that God is on my side is my biggest strength, I think,

that’s getting me through this. It’s having people surrounding you

that care that’s a big factor in my life.

What do you treasure most?

Friendship, because we are not put on this Earth to be completely

alone. And knowing that other people care about you and you care

about other people, it makes life bearable for whatever happens in

your life -- knowing that you can talk to somebody about it and that

there will be somebody there who will be in your corner for you when

you’re going through a hard time.