Talk about aging gracefully. Cornelia Harrison has lived through three centuries. Born in 1897, she saw the 1800s, 1900s, the start of the 2000s, and she’s still going strong.
Sometimes folks older than 100 years old can be difficult interview subjects. I’ve written about several 100-something folks, including a woman who didn’t speak and a 106-year-old man who didn’t remember his deceased wife’s name.
When readers tell me so and so would make a great story and they are verbal, I don’t always believe them. Brian Gregory told me his mother-in-law, who will be 106 years old on Friday, was verbal and would make a great interview.
I wore my skeptical hat to the lovely Brighton Court Retirement Community in Lynnwood, but took it off the minute I met Cornelia Harrison. Pint-sized and bubbly, Harrison was right with the program. Even though she said she didn’t know much about anything, she was only teasing.
She had her hair done for the occasion and looked very attractive. She told the hairdresser she didn’t want any silly little curls. As ordered, her hair was fashionable in a soft do with a wisp of bang. Born in a sod house in South Dakota, Abraham Lincoln didn’t have anything on her, she said. Her farmer parents moved shortly to Hosmer, S.D., where her father bought a livery stable.
Her father drove a horse and buggy and drove the town doctor to see his patients. Unfortunately, her father died when Harrison was 14, and her mother died when she was 16. She lived with her older sister in Oak Harbor after her folks died.
Was she a good student back in the one-room schoolhouse days?
"Ho ho," she said. "I don’t think so."
She thought life would be easy if she married a soldier boy, so she did. He went off to World War I, then the couple, who had three children all born on Whidbey Island, moved to Fort Lewis.
Her daughter, Angeline Gregory, 81, said it was fun growing up on an Army base with a new movie every night and the biggest swimming pool in the country. She visits her mother several times a week from her home in Mukilteo. She remarried three years ago to a widower, who she knew 48 years ago. Gregory didn’t need to fill in too many gaps in the conversation.
"Mother has a tremendous memory from the past," Gregory said. "She is an amazing woman."
An amazing 105-year-old woman who still has her own teeth.
Harrison said not driving was one thing that kept her alive. If she had ever learned to take a car on the freeway, she wouldn’t be here, she said. Harrison never smoked or drank. So many people ask her the secret to a long life.
"I live like everybody else," she said. "It just stretched out."
If she was a young girl again, she would go out dancing the waltz and two step. If she could go back in time, would she do it again?
"You bet I would," Harrison said. "Yes, if they were the same kids."
Her son, Harv, who lives in Edmonds, will take her to the Brighton Court dining room for lunch on her birthday. Her party is planned for Saturday.
"At my birthday party, I’ll sit around and try to figure out what everybody is saying," Harrison said. "I like it quiet."
Harrison said she spends a good part of her time daydreaming about the old days. As I left, she said "Bye, Sweet" and asked for a hug. Though she claimed to be a grumpy old woman, she was so pleasant, except when the photographer arrived. She scolded him that he better get a good shot.
"I’m not excited about getting my picture in the paper," Harrison said. "Who wants to see a scrawny old lady?"
I think our photographer aptly captured Harrison’s beauty. She can’t be grumpy when everyone tells her she looks fabulous for her age.
Note: According to the last census, in our state there were 53 women and 21 men age 105 or older.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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