101 Years Ago...

...our very good friend, Ruth Swanzy was born in Neuville, Texas. Lee and Carol have the pleasure of interviewing Ruth a week before her birthday to discuss her hometown, exercise habits, and a sweet reminder to take life slow.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_04 0:05

Welcome to Retirement Reflections Podcast, coming to you from the library of Canterfield of Kennesaw Independent Living. My name is Lee Martin. I'll be your co-host along with Carol Juicy. Our podcast producer is Patrick Bundram, who will oversee the entire life cycle of this podcast, which simply means if something goes wrong, it's going to be her fault. And here we are in the library. Hello.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Hello.

SPEAKER_04 0:37

Hello. We have a special guest today, Carol, don't we?

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yes, we do. This is my neighbor Ruth, and I don't know your last name, Ruth. Swansea. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 0:47

What we're going to do today is celebrate you being our neighbor. There are a lot of people around here that are just like everybody else, and you are too, except you have been around a lot longer. Been around a lot longer. Would you like to start us off by telling us a little bit about yourself? I would love to. Go right ahead.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

I was born 101 years ago in Newville, Texas. And that is Southeast Texas. And that was a very small town. One grocery store, one filling station, one red light. One red light. Very small. I lived there until I graduated from high school, but I didn't graduate in Louville. They only talked through the fifth grade. So when I finished fifth, I rode the bus to a consolidated school, Shelbyville. And that place was a little bit larger. They had many buses that came into that school. And I graduated from there. There were 11 grades at that time.

SPEAKER_04 2:09

Population of Newville in 1925 was 800 people. And I looked it up for today's population, and it's not even on the map. So I don't know if it still exists or not.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

I wondered about that.

SPEAKER_04 2:25

What did you do after you got out of school?

SPEAKER_01 2:27

After I graduated, I went to college in Natadoches. I wish you'd check and see. I'll do that. I have no idea how big that college is now. But I went even in the summer when I graduated, and I went straight through it. Summer, winter, spring, until I graduated. And after that, let's see. World War II was going on. So we didn't have boys. I started seeing men. And I graduated in three years. And my on-time boyfriend came in from the war when it was over, and we married. And the first thing we wanted to do was go to a big town. Big city. So we went to Houston. Houston? Okay. Houston. That's where we live. I live there really until I retire. No way. Did you start teaching in Houston? I did. But when I first got there, I did not get school that first year. I don't know whether you have ever heard of anyone being an elevator operator. Yes, I have. Where, you know, the person gets on. I say, what floor would you like? Oh, okay. I did anything that I could find until I found the school. Mark Twin in elementary on Underwooden Braze, right down from the Estradome. Well, Astrodome wasn't there then. I watched that being built. Did you always want to be a teacher? Once I started, I knew that was what I wanted to do. My children all through their life. We had three children, two girls and a boy. And they're all still living. They're successful in their lifetime. What grade did you have? I taught fourth. I was in that same building in the same room 27 years.

SPEAKER_04 4:38

So you had people that would come and say, You taught my son.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

I taught many families children. I did.

SPEAKER_04 4:48

How many grandchildren do you have?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

One.

SPEAKER_04 4:51

One?

SPEAKER_01 4:52

One grandchild. One. Okay. I have two children that have no children.

SPEAKER_04 4:58

Oh, okay. Do they live in Texas?

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Two live in Texas. One in Denton near Dallas. And one in Longview.

SPEAKER_04 5:08

And then one in the Atlanta area.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

And one in Kennesaw.

SPEAKER_04 5:12

Okay. Let's talk about Kennesaw a little bit in this area here. You've lived at Canterfield?

SPEAKER_01 5:18

I've lived at Canterfield four years.

SPEAKER_04 5:21

Okay. Were you in another senior adult living before that?

SPEAKER_01 5:25

I live at Park.

SPEAKER_04 5:26

Okay. Are you involved in the activities here?

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Yes. I'm involved. I do the artwork that Patrick and I can do. Since I can't see, I didn't say I'd lost my eyesight and that I have only peripheral vision.

SPEAKER_04 5:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

That has limited me a lot on what I do.

SPEAKER_04 5:49

How long have you had eyesight problems?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

It came on gradually, but I would say 40 years.

SPEAKER_04 5:55

Oh really?

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Before I lost. I lost the macular eight years ago.

SPEAKER_04 6:01

A lot of people here take a lot of medicines. I do. I take I take 11 pills in the morning and 13 pills in the morning and 11 at night. And I'm not even 80 years old. I do. A lot of heart medicine and high blood pressure. Do you take a lot of medicine?

SPEAKER_01 6:16

I take a total of seven pills.

SPEAKER_04 6:20

So why are you more healthy than I am?

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Well, I don't know other than I have the genes for being healthy because my mother lived to be 104.

SPEAKER_04 6:32

Really? So it's a genetic.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Well, I think genetic plays. The other that I'm credited to is being very active in all the exercise.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

You have been my mentor. You've been telling me to get active. And I listen and I just somehow never get down there and exercise. Consequently, I have bad knees and I can hardly get up and down without difficulty. And I always look at you and you just are swinging down that hallway every time I see you. And I know that longtime exercise makes a difference.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

I think it does. When I retired and I moved to Longby, there was a family fitness very near me. I could almost walk. I could walk. And I got involved with that family. They had three different instructors every week. I enjoyed all three. And I went always three times a week and sometimes more. But I have exercised on a regular basis for 40 years. Well, that makes you who you are. I'm convinced of that. I exercised all the time there. When I moved park, I joined and did everything there I could do. Well, and doing it here at Canterfield.

SPEAKER_04 8:08

One of the things here that I know helps you be involved in the activities is our activities director, William. He seems to always pull you into something. I remember a couple of years ago for Halloween, he dressed up like a beekeeper and he had you dressed up like a bumblebee.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

That's right.

SPEAKER_04 8:28

And then this last year, he was dressed up like Colonel Sanders and he had you in a chicken costume.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Everybody said I didn't think he would do that.

SPEAKER_04 8:38

Why did you?

SPEAKER_01 8:39

Uh, because William asked me. And that's what my daughter says. If William asks you to do something, you're gonna do it or try to.

SPEAKER_04 8:50

Well, we don't we don't lack for activities around here.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

No, we do not. We do not.

SPEAKER_04 8:55

What about your faith? I know you come to the church services on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

I do.

SPEAKER_04 9:00

What part has that played in your life over the years?

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Many years ago, when I lived in that small town, they had one church. So everybody, the Baptists, the Methodist, everybody took their time to worship there at that church. And I was in the Baptist, and I've done that since.

SPEAKER_04 9:23

Well, we enjoy you coming. We know that you get a lot out of it. I agree. As the preacher, it's always makes my day to see you sitting there. And you're one of the few people that don't go to sleep when I preach.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

So that's cool. Nobody goes to sleep. I answer every question.

SPEAKER_04 9:40

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

I raise my hand when you tell me to.

SPEAKER_04 9:44

If you were to tell your younger self something that you would have done different in your life, is there anything that if you had to do over again? What would you do differently with your life?

SPEAKER_01 9:55

I think back and I was so involved in working and making a living, I feel like I should have spent more time with children. With your children? With my children. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 10:09

You know, we heard that from Joe Pierce. The same thing.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

We've heard it from several people actually, that they wish that they would have taken more time.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

I seem to be very busy all the time. It didn't always involve them. But I was thinking all the way back to retirement years when I checked to see how they figured your retirement. And it was on your five best years. Well, when it got to that point and I checked it out, I thought I need to do this another year. So there I did teaching and I did extended day, which was two hours after, and I helped the children that needed help. And I went to the hotline, that's what they called it, at the administration building. And I worked from six to nine helping children that called in. And I did that those five years to up my retirement. It's a good thing I did.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Rose, I'm gonna make you feel a little bit better. I worked outside of the home also, and I but I always made sure that I was home when my children came home. I was really serious about that. So one day my son said, I don't remember you being home. And I sat there and I thought, you know, I have done everything I could to be home when you were home and have cookies or something on the table. Right. Oh, I remember the cookies, but I don't remember you. So, Bruce, I hope that makes you feel better. That they don't pay any attention sometimes. So don't worry about it. I still remember that remark from my son. Of course, I think he giggled when he left.

SPEAKER_04 12:02

Miss Ruth, my grandson is 22, 23 years old. He's in Nashville, Tennessee now. And when he knew we were doing these podcasts, he said, I want you to ask question of everybody that you can. And the question was this: what would you say to someone who's, you know, in their twenties, just away from home first and starting their life? How would you tell them to make decisions so that they wouldn't have to worry about the what ifs in life? You know, sometimes we when we make a decision, we say, well, but what if that doesn't work? Or what if, you know, so what would be your advice for a decision-making process for young adults?

SPEAKER_01 12:45

I think back, and I've said so many times, I wish I had the first few years out of college back, and I would make entirely different decisions than I made.

SPEAKER_04 13:01

Help us understand that.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Well, I feel like I rushed too much in getting married and not having everything planned and worked out like I would do now.

SPEAKER_04 13:13

Right. I think a lot of time, well, but you know, a young adult sometimes they don't know what to plan for. One of the themes that we've kind of had in this podcast is that when you're young, that's for fun. And then when you get into your middle age, that's for work, and then when you get old, that's kind of more for God. So that young adult stage is where they're trying to figure out what do I want to do with my life, and how do I do that? And sometimes they get into jobs and things just for the money. And if you're like my wife and I, you know, we were newly married, and the first piece of furniture we bought was a stereo. Not a chair, not a sofa, not a bed, but a stereo. You know, so our priorities were were a little bit different, you know. But I know there's a lot of folks that are listening that are asking, how do we learn from people like Ruth Swansea? We look at you and we think we have a lot to learn from you. You bring a lot to the table, Ruth. You really, really do.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Well, Ruth is thinking about it right now. You should see the look on her face. She's trying to figure out what in the world did I bring to the table? But you know what, Ruth? You reminded me when you were in your twenties and you said that you wish that you had more time to plan things out. I don't know if it's planning things out so much as you didn't have time for yourself. You just hurried through. It seems like I didn't really plan.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Yeah, you you were hurrying. I didn't look at the big picture. Yes. Doing things on the spur of the moment. Yes, right. And I'm making big decisions, which if I had it to go, as I say, there are a lot of things I'd do differently.

SPEAKER_04 15:02

And I don't know if today's generation really is a whole lot more different than that. I think we all have the same idea, you know. We want to we always ask our children, what do you want to be when you grow up?

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Yes, right.

SPEAKER_04 15:14

And then when we find our young adults, you know, in their late teens and early twenties, I know my granddaughter keeps, you know, she's married, and she keeps talking about, you know, this being an adult is hard.

unknown 15:27

It is hard.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

It is hard to be an adult. I have a young granddaughter also that is finishing teaching college, and she's has a lot on her plate, and she doesn't have time to plan anything. I mean, she just is hurrying up and getting that education and going on with the rest of her life, and that's probably what you did.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

And I'm looking and thinking, I only wish they knew they had more time. Yes. I mean, you don't have to rush in something.

SPEAKER_04 15:58

That's good advice.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

That's one thing about we have time now, Ruth, and I'm enjoying my time. My son was here for six days, and he really got the feeling of what it's like to have time. He said, You're really in a good place. He said you have time to do something that you want to do. And I thought, I'm sitting here like everybody else. I don't know what I want to do. I wonder what William has planned or what Patrick has planned for us today.

SPEAKER_04 16:28

You know, I heard about a revival in Norman, Oklahoma, which is not far from where we were living at the time. And the preacher of this big church had an evangelist come in and he said, We're gonna go visit today, and there's a lady down the street I want you to meet. And they went down the street. I don't know how old the lady was, but she was a senior adult. They got there and she was sitting on the porch and had her Bible in her hand and in her rocking chair. The preacher called out to the lady by name and he said to her, How are you doing today? And she said, Oh, I'm just sitting here rocking Jesus, had her Bible, and she was just, you know, it was she wasn't rushed around doing something. She had reached that stage in her life to where she realized that now I can slow down. And I'm just sitting here thinking about how God has blessed me. And I'm sure you're the same way, Ruth. You can probably think of a lot of blessings that God has given you.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

I really can. And one of the big things I think about is how the kids located this place, Cantorville. I mean, we really were not out looking for a place for me to move to at the time. We it was on a Sunday afternoon, and we stopped. I remember Stephen that used to work here was I guess they sent him over. Somebody's here and wants to see. And I think, my gosh, how blessed I was that they stopped here. We found this place. I have enjoyed it so much.

SPEAKER_04 18:06

How much did they pay you to say that, Ruth? I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

I didn't I didn't get paid to say it. I say it all the time to everybody.

SPEAKER_04 18:17

This is a wonderful place. We we all enjoy it. We really do. It is. Well, you know, your time is valuable and so is ours, and we're limited. We're not limited, but we limit ourselves. But I do want to ask Patrick a question, you know, so that you'll kind of get an idea here up to how many listeners are we now. Do you know? But you know, we've we've got a lot of folks that are listening to this, you know. As a matter of fact, on the podcast app, they can now put in fan mail where they can actually text us and say, you know, we are we listened to this, you know. But Patrick just said 248. So almost 250 people have listened to this. That's half the number of people that was in uh your college when you went to school. So in this day and age, but you know, we we love you, Ruth. We want you to know that you are very loved.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

I just felt like when they asked me, I thought, I am so old. Everything I know is so old ago, and nobody is gonna listen to anything I have to say.

SPEAKER_04 19:22

Oh, but I think that's I know I know what you mean.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

You kind of think I have heard we went to the memorial Saturday for what Chris? Chris. And I sat there and listened to all of his accomplishments, and it made you sit there and think, what have I done? But then again, I'm an ordinary person, and there's nothing wrong with that.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

So many people have done so much more, accomplished so much more, and I have a lot to offer. I just felt like I didn't have anything that would be very interesting to anybody.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Ruth, my mother had a sing, and uh I would bring boyfriends in to meet her, and she would never say much. She would be nice and smile at them. But when I brought my husband in, she brought me into the kitchen and she said he's an ordinary person. I like him. And so for her, an ordinary person was the highest compliment that you could give and is an accomplishment.

SPEAKER_04 20:25

Before we go, your birthday is the 24th of August, correct? It is. And I think this episode will be published, that's not the word, next Monday, which is my birthday. Let's sing happy birthday to her now so that next week can sing happy birthday to me. I can sing happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Miss Ruth. Happy birthday to you.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

I sit here and think about doing that at my son's second birthday. Uh-huh. And he was, oh, happy birthday to me. You know. And I kid him about it now. I said, Yeah, you started early in life. Isn't it funny? How you remember? Still celebrate. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:12

Ruth, thank you for coming in and sharing with us today. We're going to close this down by just simply saying goodbye.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

Bye.

SPEAKER_04 21:20

See ya.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Hey there, producer Patrick Bundram here. We now have a new exciting feature where you can send fan mail on our website. Access the message board on BuzzSprout by clicking the fan mail link on any episode. We appreciate your continued support, and we'll be back next week. As always, Retirement Reflections does not claim to give any advice, and the personal beliefs of hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the Canterfield community official policies. Thank you again for joining us.