Aging with Grace: Centenarian Shares Story

Michelle Wade

Centenarians are the fastest growing age group in our population. According to the most recent Census numbers, there are approximately 174 persons 100 years or older in the KIPDA region. In honor of Older Americans Month, KIPDA has made an attempt to locate, recognize and honor these special individuals.  Living a full century is proof of amazing power and grace. They have lived the history most of us have only read about.  We have met many with incredible stories. And while each has a long past, they are all very much living in the present. 

I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting one such person.  Edie Griffie was born April 20, 1905. On the afternoon of our visit, she welcomed me with warmth, humor, and humility. She generously shared her life story and lessons.  Edie says no one else in her family has lived past 87 years. She is sure that the Lord has left her down here for a purpose but she doesn't know why...yet. 

Edie was born on a farm in Hardin County. She says it was a hard life. They grew hay, corn and other vegetables. They did not have electricity, plumbing or cars.  They pumped water in buckets for use in the home and the only source of heat was from their fireplace.  Edie says she never uses the fireplace in her current home because she has "emptied enough buckets of ashes" in her life. 

After her Mother died in 1924, Edie's father opened a General Store in Grayson County.  Not long after, Edie and her three sisters moved to Louisville to find work. Edie took a job as a Telephone Operator at the City Telephone Company. This would be an event that would change her life. 

Edie rode the street car to and from her job on 5th Street every day. Every day the Motor Man would say good morning.  One day another man took the controls and Walter Griffie sat and talked to Edie. She was impressed by him, but times were hard due to the Depression and Walter had to leave Louisville to find other work. Two years later, while coming out of the City Telephone Company with her sister, Edie spied a man hiding behind a newspaper and immediately recognized Walter. She walked up to say hello and Walter said he had "come back to get her." They were married on June 29, 1929 and moved to Philadelphia. 

The Griffies were unable to have any children. However, they enjoyed a life full of family, friends and neighbors. They moved to New Jersey in 1959, but found that they both missed home. They returned to Louisville in 1964, to the home where Edie still lives. Walter died in 1979. And although Edie still misses him dearly, she enjoys the gift of living every day. 

Edie lives alone and takes care of her home with very little help. She enjoys taking care of her tidy home and growing flowers on her porch in planters. Her neighbors, Kenny and Linda, help maintain her yard and larger home repairs. They enjoy dinner out every Friday followed by a trip to Wal-Mart for groceries. Edie feels like Kenny and Linda are her family, since she has outlived her other relations. 

She also visits the Neighborhood House every day for a serious game of Pinochle and lunch. She has played cards with the same group since 1988 and says she enjoys it so much that she would go on Saturday and Sunday if they were open. When asked about her favorite modern convenience, she says she used to love listening to the radio and watching television. However, poor hearing has made this more difficult. 

Edie has lived through war, the Depression, loss of parents, siblings and husband with grace. She is a wonderful example of others who have reached the golden age of 100 or more.  As Lynn Adler, founder of the National Centenarian Awareness Project says, "People who reach 100 are not quitters. They share a remarkable ability to renegotiate life at every turn, to accept the inevitable losses and move on." 

Edie's life lesson is to "Thank the Lord every morning for another night's rest."  Thank you, Edie, for sharing your wonderful life's lessons!