At age 97, ‘it’s a joy to be alive’
“I never could have imagined living to be 97. I have no idea how it feels, really. I mean, I don’t know any different. I’m slower, yeah. I have a little trouble with short-term memory. But...
“I never could have imagined living to be 97. I have no idea how it feels, really. I mean, I don’t know any different. I’m slower, yeah. I have a little trouble with short-term memory. But...
“I gave birth to my son in 2013. A couple months after that, my aunt had a stroke. There was no one available to help her get through the physical therapy, bring her to doctor’s appointments,...
“Everyone in my immediate family, except for me and one of my older brothers, is in health care. My mother has been a nurse for the elderly for 50-plus years. My two older sisters are nurses....
“I think about the future a lot. It stresses me out.” Your future, or the future of the world?“Both. And I don’t know what to focus on. That’s the frustration. I get stressed out very easily....
“My mom put me in Scouts when I was 6 years old. I went all the way through. I’m an Eagle Scout. I’ve got like 70 merit badges. I love Scouts so much. I think it’s...
“I kind of have this thing — I’ve been calling it a superhero complex — where I want to help people. “At one point, I thought about becoming a police officer. When I was 15, I...
“I’m a senior at Texas A&M, studying animation. That’s my stuff. I like drawing and writing. As a kid, you’re always doodling. For me, it never really stopped. “I didn’t take it seriously until my freshman...
“Throughout my life, it seems like people have always been seeking my advice on how to handle certain situations. I’ve often wondered, why me? What is it that I provide that’s helpful? Maybe it stems from...
“Drugs, alcoholism, domestic violence — all of that was in our life growing up. “My dad was a salesman. He made a lot of money, but he spent it on alcohol and drugs. He beat my...
“It began in college. I had a class called Sex and Gender in Latin America. It was talking about the machismo culture and what women in those countries are going through, not really being protected or...