by Dr. Iain
Corness
The
new president of the Pattaya International Ladies Club (PILC) is a
forthright American lady, Sharon Tibbitts. She is a woman who has always
looked on the positive side of life and is a great believer in personal
strength. “The more you achieve,” says Sharon, “the more you know
you can achieve,” all said in her strong Carolina accent.
She was born in North Carolina, in a rural region. She
described her young adult life as being in a very different era. She had a
very strong mother. “We did what we were told. She was tough on me - to
make me strong, but she wasn’t a very encouraging individual.” With
that upbringing, I could imagine that Sharon’s positive attitude may
have originally been a direct response to the maternal negativity.
They did not lack for much as she grew up, but said
proudly that she had always worked since the age of 12. “I did it as a
work ethic, not because we needed the money.” Part of that work was
learning canning, cooking and sewing. “I have 54 ribbons from the State
Fairs,” she said, with an obvious degree of personal satisfaction.
By the time she left secondary education, she knew that
she wanted to do something with people. With that in mind, she went to
Nursing College and then continued with further training as a surgical
nurse.
She enjoyed her time in the operating theatres,
relishing the fact that each case is just that little bit different from
all others. This was a direct ‘people’ involvement, and was enough to
keep her interest for 20 years.
During part of this time she found herself in the
situation of being a single parent, after divorce, and she supported her
children by working two part time jobs as well as her nursing. “That
brings character,” says Sharon. “If you have too many good things in
life it is too easy to forget where we’re at.” Sharon also says that
the hard times make it such that she can understand the plight of the less
privileged Thais. This she believes goes hand in hand with some of the
PILC objectives. However, she does firmly believe that the PILC exists as
a support net for ladies of all nationalities.
She spoke often of the loneliness of the new arrivals
in any country and remembers her own introduction to Thailand on her first
trip to the Kingdom, many years ago. After a 20-hour flight from the USA
they arrived in Bangkok. The doors of the plane were flung open, and that
hot wet blanket of Bangkok air was upon them. She turned to her husband
and said, “My God, we’ve landed in Hell!”
Sharon does pepper her conversations with much homespun
philosophy, which probably reflects her rural childhood. However, these
philosophies should not be looked down upon because of their humble
origins. These are homilies that have also stood the test of time. “I
treat people like I like to be treated,” being one of her tenets, and an
admirable way to conduct one’s life.
She did not stop her own personal training, even after
the years of seniority in the nursing field, branching out into the field
of Esthetics (skin care). She achieved her State Board license and set up
her own clinic in America, which burgeoned. In one year she built her
practice up from zero to 150 clients, but then had to choose between
following her husband to Thailand, or staying in America and building the
business.
Keeping the partnership with her husband, whom she
describes as her ‘soul mate’ was more important, and so they have set
up their home here. She describes their relationship as a true
partnership. “I’m a support net for my husband. When he comes home the
table is set and the candles lit - just the same as he used to do for me
when I was working late.”
In her own way, Sharon is an achiever. “The more you
achieve, the more you know you can achieve,” she said. One of her
achievements is a weight problem which stemmed back to her childhood,
about which she began to do something when she was 32 years old. “I used
to weigh 217 pounds. Every second person in America is overweight. So I
just said, ‘This is it’ and lost 30 pounds in the first 30 days.”
Whilst she, like millions of other Americans, had been watching Oprah lose
her weight, she states that her personal motivation was “Sheer brain and
willpower as wanting to remove this weight for me and me only.”
She was successful in this weight loss, but in its
stead had to suffer with over-stretched tissues that were now sagging and
would not shrink back as the years went on. “I wanted a better self
image and feel more healthy on a daily basis. To me, a good self image
means looking good in a bathing suit and just feeling healthy and good
about myself.” True to herself, she turned to plastic (cosmetic)
surgery. Not to lose weight, but to return her shape to one that
complemented her self image. She shared her feelings about this with the
members of the PILC, writing, “I am loving every minute of my new body
as it didn’t transform my life or anything around it, but it transformed
my mind and the way I look at myself.”
We spoke on the future and for Sharon, the most
important thing is to see her children educated and happy. And “to die
instantly.” This is not some macabre death wish, but a concept that many
health professionals espouse, having seen too many of their charges linger
unpleasantly. In the meantime, she will continue living her life by the
principle that “If there’s something needs to be done, you can do
it.”
I am sure the resolute Sharon Tibbitts will apply herself successfully
to anything that needs to be done. Now or in the future!
