By Carley Wiggins
Over the past eight years I have written about a lot of people. People from all walks of life, some who have done some pretty outstanding things in their life and some just average people. But as I have mentioned several times, everybody has a story to tell and this is the story of Carrie Johnson. Carrie was born in Johnston County, N.C., the daughter of James and Addie Wilkerson Lane. There were seven children in the family, four boys and three girls.
I guess the unusual thing about Carrie is her birth date, September 16, 1910. Friday was Carrie?s birthday; she was a hundred and one years old. Carrie did not come from wealth and one might consider she has not enjoyed fame and fortune, but she seems to have enjoyed her life even though it has not been an easy life. Her mother passed away when she was just a young child, which made things even harder on the Lane family.
About 1920, the family moved to South Carolina and settled near Mullins. Her father was a farmer and the whole family worked to raise the crops by which they made a living. She talked about life before the modern conveniences that we enjoy today and the days when there were few paved roads to travel on. Most travel was by horse and wagon. She remembered them having a 1923 automobile of some type. Carrie of course has outlived all her brothers and sisters.
In 1927, Carrie Lane married J.C. Johnson, who was also a farmer and from this marriage came six children, five of whom are still living. This marriage lasted forty-eight years until her husband passed away in 1975. In the midst of raising six children, Carrie began to work outside the home in order to supplement their income. She worked at various jobs including twenty-two years at Herbert Mills which became known as Heritage Sportswear. From there she went to Glenn Sportswear, owned by the same family, and worked until her retirement at age sixty-five.
One might think that Mrs. Johnson went home and sat down and didn?t do much of anything, but that was far from the truth. Mrs. Carrie as she is called by many contributes her long life to staying active. Her daughter, Dean who was there as I interviewed her mother, said her mother was always busy doing something. She grew a nice vegetable garden each year. She enjoyed working in her flowers and loves growing red roses. After her husband?s death, Mrs. Carrie lived alone and did her own work around her home until last year when she was a hundred years old. She said she had lived a fairly healthy life during her time, she had some heart surgery a few years back and she only has one kidney, but otherwise has been pretty healthy.
She shared with me some things about her life such as doing about everything on the farm, even driving a tractor. She still has a driver?s license although she doesn?t drive much anymore. She talked about her first trip to the beach many years ago when all they had was a bath house. I asked if she had any hobbies and she said she loved to fish. She said she had fished in the rivers and the ocean; she had a brother who used to take her fishing a lot.
Last year, tragedy struck in Mrs. Carrie?s life when she lost a daughter, Carrie Johnson Howard after a bout with cancer. This seemed to take a toll on this dear lady, one that she hasn?t seemed to overcome. Since last October, Mrs. Carrie has been a resident of Thorne Retirement Home in Lake View. You wouldn?t recognize her as being a patient, she gets around good, she is completely self sufficient and the age is almost unbelievable.
Mrs. Johnson is a member of North Mullins Baptist Church and she misses her friends there. Some of her children live away, but a big day is planned for Sunday when they all will be home to honor their mother for her hundred and one birthday. Mrs. Johnson has nineteen grandchildren, thirty-six great-grandchildren, and twenty great-great-grandchildren.
Before we departed company, I asked Mrs. Carrie what she would like to do with the rest of her life, however long that might be. She answered and said ?I would just like to be able to go back to my home.? That is certainly not for me to be the judge of, because I don?t know all her circumstances, but as so many others that I have had the privilege of writing about, I will not soon forget Mrs. Carrie Johnson.
Source: http://www.dillonheraldonline.com/2011/09/25/thorne-retirement-home-resident-turns-101/
piranha sprint printable coupons windsor university of texas free samples florida gators football
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন