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IN YOUR PRIME
Winner!
“I celebrated my 75th birthday recently with the sobering thought I may be
three-quarters of the way through my life,” begins a busy, ever-thoughtful
Phyllis M. Dawson. “There is so much I want to do before I die, I may need
to go for an extension.”
This uncommon woman suggests 100 years may not, in fact, be time enough
on earth.
Dawson, a widow in Lindenhurst, IL, mother to five adult children, regards
her life as “an adventure.” Here she is on being active and responsible for
one’s overall health:
“I take tap dancing class on Mondays, and a tap-jazz class on Tuesdays. I
love to dance. I have always been the oldest participant in my dance classes
but it doesn’t faze me one bit.”
She then launches into an anecdote about how, at age 71, she climbed a
mountain wearing a 20-pound backpack. “Going up I slogged away at the
rear of our group,” she remembers, but “coming down I was so exhilarated I
strode in front, hopping from rock to rock through streams…ahead of the
teenagers who the previous days climbed like gazelles. Yes, life is an
adventure, indeed!”
For these reasons, and because this aging woman knows who she is and why
she is intent upon extended life, we celebrate Phyllis Dawson as winner of
our junior contest asking readers how long they wish to live. In today’s
outgoing mail is a $25 check for grandmother Dawson.
“On the subject of freedom,” she continues, “I’d like to interject that
widowhood, in spite of its obvious drawbacks, has at least given me the
freedom to be the person I truly am—in place of the person I strived to be, as
wife and mother.
“At my age, and as the family matriarch, I believe I can relax and enjoy
talking to whomever I please, without the risk of seeming either flirtatious or
threatening. I am content to be who I am today.”
In a neat, typed treatise, or letter, totaling some 1260 words, this God-
fearing correspondent (“I try to be a useful servant to Him.”) suggests “I’ve
had my shares of woes, just like everybody else, but in retrospect I am
grateful for the strengths I’ve gained from these troubles. Perhaps they’ve
equipped me with courage to face whatever lies ahead.”
As to her appearances, Ms. Dawson is honest, yet earnest: “Without the aid
of Botox I have just a few facial wrinkles, while my hairdresser helps me
retain my natural hair color. I would like to be as slim as when I was young;
instead I’ve settled for the inevitable, moderate amount of padding, along
with the pull of gravity.
“I’m in good health. Why should I then worry about recapturing a youthful
body for vanity’s sake?”
Finally, the reasons for wanting to become a centenarian: “I look forward to
the marriages of my grandchildren and the births of their children.
Meantime, I have the joy of seeking out my ancestors through
genealogy…There is much to be recorded, and stories to be written, so my
descendants will know: 1) the lives of their ancestors were not in vain, and
2) the childrens’ talents and gifts are rooted in the genes of forbears.”
As to any last words? Phyllis Dawson was both ready and quick: “I want to
keep on dancing.”
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Outrageous Associations
