I tend to think more about “the rest of my life” over New Year’s than on any birthday. I ponder how I have lived and what I have done and still want to do. I find that my ideas have been shifting as I get older, that I have given myself permission to not do everything I “ought to have done by this age” and to focus on my passions, especially in the realm of human rights. I’m proud of my activism, give as much to nonprofits as I can afford, and have probably become obnoxious in the amount of correspondence I’ve sent to Congress in the last eight years alone.
And then I happened to read an article about a woman that made me pause and realize I haven’t even begun. Gertrude Baines is about to be crowned the world’s oldest woman by the Guinness Book of World Records at the truly ripe old age of 114. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1894 to parents who were former slaves, Baines quit school in the fourth grade to help her mom — her choice, as she “didn’t like school” and her parents were ok with that. A recent CNN piece mentioned that her only child died of typhoid at age 18.
Now living in a nursing home in California, Baines, as you can imagine, has been interviewed on numerous occasions. One of my favorites is an article written when she turned 113. It gives a clear picture of how much she is respected in her community and what natural curiosity to the world around her she continues to have. Baines, who recently voted for President-elect Obama, says that working as a “house mom” at an Ohio State University dorm was her most memorable job. You have to wonder what she witnessed to have that job earn the “most memorable” title; one hopes it was eager students.
It’s impossible to imagine being 114 years old. She has lived through more challenges and changes for women in both education and equality than most of us have learned attending universities or in our own daily lives. What she could teach us! If anyone happens to run across any further interviews with her, send us a link. If anyone lives near her, how about an interview about what she thinks about opportunities for women throughout her life. If you read the article linked above (about when she was 113), it gives contact information through her pastor.
Meanwhile, I’ll still be pestering Congress, since even in 2009 issues affecting women continue to be a challenge and definitely need to be changed. Thank heavens for e-mail and AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist, which have made it much easier!
What an accomplishment! I love the fact that she spends most of her time now “doing nothing but eating and sleeping.” She has earned it and seems to be such a humble spirit. Makes you wonder how the rest of us will fare with so much doom and gloom predicted by what we eat, drink and breathe. Gives us all more incentive to take better care of ourselves–the way God would have us to. The new year seems to make so many want to regroup and reevaluate–something we should be doing throughout the year.
Keep pestering Congress Christy–the fight isn’t over yet!