Yesterday was my daughter Evelyn’s 6th birthday. She looked like a princess in a beautiful dress she had been given for her birthday. Her hair was curled into ringlets and it made me smile all over when I pulled into the driveway and saw her waiting for me. I wanted others to have the inside smiles I had so quite spontaneously, I took her and her older sister to an area nursing home to read to the residents. It was a gift that gave everyone pleasure. The staff loved seeing my little girls, the residents were thrilled to have company, and I loved watching them make new friends. The best part was that both of them said they wanted to come back and read every week. They really had a wonderful time and made friends with two ladies who helped them with their reading.
While they were reading, I just happened to sit with a lady named Marion Stout. What I didn’t know was that Ms. Stout, age, 111, has the distinction of being the oldest living woman in Tennessee as well as being the 11th oldest person in the U.S. It absolutely made my day sitting and talking to this woman who was born in 1896. She was very alert and aside from her hearing, it was quite easy to communicate with her. I learned that she worked for Eastman, Dillon Brokerage House (which later became part of Paine Webber) and that she would get tips on buying stocks like General Motors, American Telegraph, and Bristol Meyers. Until recently, she read the Wall Street Journal every day and continued to purchase stocks. I felt like I was connecting with a piece of US history. I went to my trusted research advisor, google, and found that local writer Fred Brown had recently written about her in the Knoxville Sentinel In his article he quoted Ms. Stout “I eat right, take care of myself and stay positive.” Perhaps she could have been a motivational speaker.
I asked Ms. Stout what the secret was to living a long life and she told me three things:
1) Do everything in moderation
2) Do what is right
3) Give to others.
I think that is good advice for living a long life. There’s a lot more about her that I would like to learn and hope to on another visit soon.
Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com
