Post by kamera on Dec 24, 2005 21:46:22 GMT -5
On December 2, 2005, my maternal grandmother celebrated her 109th. birthday. She is old enough to have lived in at least part of 3 generations.
Born in 1896 she was one of 3 children in the family. Her father(and my maternal greatgrandfather...duh...of course) was an undertaker and part of her family chores once she reached 10 years old was to help care for the two horses and horse-drawn hearse. Even having been around them for 10 years, she still had respect and fear for their large size. More of her duties involved weekly cleaning and polishing of the hearse. She relates how her father used to tell her..."you polish those brass lamps until they shine and you can clearly see your face in the reflection".
Until she was 102, she lived alone in her two story house...daily climbing stairs to the bedroom area or to the basement for laundry. Since that age she has resided with her youngest daughter in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she has her own room and a second room for her quilting apparatus. Yep...she still quilts but not as frequently as before.
The doctor says there is nothing really wrong with her except old age...no diseases, etc. She has declined in health over the past two years but is still rather sharp and alert. In fact...get her on the subject of politics and if you oppose her views...you have real harcore debate on your hands.
She attributes her longevity to...1. clean living, 2. never having swore(I find this one hard to believe for anyone) and 3. a daily small glass of red wine.
Having outlived a husband, 2 children and 1 grandchild she does more frequently bring up the subject of..."this is not the way it is supposed to be".
Here are 4 pictures of her taken at different ages.
Age 2
Age 22
Age 51...shown with my grandfather
Age 109
One remarkable woman whom I love dearly!
Ron Head
Kalamazoo, MI
Born in 1896 she was one of 3 children in the family. Her father(and my maternal greatgrandfather...duh...of course) was an undertaker and part of her family chores once she reached 10 years old was to help care for the two horses and horse-drawn hearse. Even having been around them for 10 years, she still had respect and fear for their large size. More of her duties involved weekly cleaning and polishing of the hearse. She relates how her father used to tell her..."you polish those brass lamps until they shine and you can clearly see your face in the reflection".
Until she was 102, she lived alone in her two story house...daily climbing stairs to the bedroom area or to the basement for laundry. Since that age she has resided with her youngest daughter in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she has her own room and a second room for her quilting apparatus. Yep...she still quilts but not as frequently as before.
The doctor says there is nothing really wrong with her except old age...no diseases, etc. She has declined in health over the past two years but is still rather sharp and alert. In fact...get her on the subject of politics and if you oppose her views...you have real harcore debate on your hands.
She attributes her longevity to...1. clean living, 2. never having swore(I find this one hard to believe for anyone) and 3. a daily small glass of red wine.
Having outlived a husband, 2 children and 1 grandchild she does more frequently bring up the subject of..."this is not the way it is supposed to be".
Here are 4 pictures of her taken at different ages.
Age 2
Age 22
Age 51...shown with my grandfather
Age 109
One remarkable woman whom I love dearly!
Ron Head
Kalamazoo, MI
)...and he is still cutting down oak trees (alone) for winter firewood!