Thursday, May 04, 2006

Granny, 113 Years Old!!!

Most everyone wants to live as long as possible. The Doctors have found many ways, such as chemo, heart transplants etc. to keep people alive a little longer. One secret to long life is found in the ten commandments in the Bible. The 5th commandment says: "Honor your father and mother that you may live long on the earth." The Bible also tells us how to treat those that have lived long on the earth. Leviticus 19:32 "You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord." Job 12:12, "Wisdom is with the aged men, and with length of days, understanding. Proverbs 16:31, "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness."

Three years ago, my family had the pleasure meeting one of those gray haired elderly people, at a senior home in Florida where my Grandparents held a Bible sing along. This certain lady was affectionately called Granny.
Granny was, at that time 110!! She was a very sweet lady who loved the Lord and came whenever she was able, to the services my grandparents held there. Despite her age, she still used a walker then and insisted on getting out of her chair herself, saying that "she was a big girl.."

Through the years we have thought and prayed for her, and every time her Birthday came around we would send an e-mail to Grandpa and Grandma, asking them to say Happy Birthday to her for us. Just last year, Granny had been moved to the Oaks, a nursing home, being unable to care for herself. This year just after her 113th birthday in April, our grandparents sent us an article that had been in their newspaper about her. It was very interesting, and informed us that at one time no one had known how old she really was, until her granddaughter Marie Daniels found a fishing license of hers that recorded her age.

Granny (Roxene Riggs) is a Christian and has a love of reading, especially the Bible and other Christian literature and magazines. Mrs. Daniels said that "she (Granny) has always been a very caring person… very humble, and always appreciative of anything anyone does for her." Some of Granny's favorite sayings are, "keep on keeping on", "I want to be ready when the Lord calls", and "Do what you can when you can."

As you can see Granny is of a persevering character, and my whole family has been blessed by her.