Tell us about your family and your accomplishments.

• I  was married to my first wife for 53 years.  She passed away. I have 2 sons.
• I met my second wife at the senior center, Jeanette Dodd.  She was active at the center and played the piano.  I invited her to my church and we did things together as friends.  When my preacher said he liked my girlfriend, I was quick to say, “she’s just a friend.” . For awhile, everyone was getting us married but me.  It was God’s plan. When we got married, the preacher said we were the oldest couple he had ever married.
• I worked and retired from the GA Department of Transportation where I worked as an inspector and later in the maintenance department.  I received the Man of the Year Meritorious Award, but I like to think of it as the Team Award, because the men really earned it.  I learned more about math from the transportation department than I ever learned in school
• I like to garden and work in my yard and flower bed.

Do you visit a senior center?

Yes. Calhoun Senior Center.

How long have you been attending the center?

About four years.

What made you start going to the center?

After my wife passed away.  I found fellowship and I’m close to people — just like family.

What kinds of activities do you enjoy at the center

Talking - "running my mouth." I thought I would never laugh again after my wife passed.

How has the center helped you Age Well and Live Well?

“Laughing.”  If you can laugh it helps you.  I just love people and talking.

• I used to carry the trash out at the senior center.
• I’m a deacon at the Newton Baptist Church
• Jeanette and I visit the homebound in the afternoons and make rounds to the hospital and nursing homes.  I’m a talker, so I love doing this and it cheers the people up.
• We go to visit people and cheer them up.  When we leave, I know they have cheered me up more than I have cheered them.

Go to church.  The Lord really has to touch people first.