Oh, to be hundred
By PAT WICK
@ Another Day in the Country
"So how does it feel to be a 100?" Lisa, from California, asked her grandmother from Kansas.
"Oh," said Anna Schubert Schimming with a twinkle in her eye, "not that much different than 99!"
When my Aunt Anna had her 90th birthday party, I remember asking her if she'd like to live to be 100. She paused, looked me over, raised one eyebrow and said, "Not necessarily — I'm ready to go whenever the Lord sees fit."
To live to be 100 is a milestone in our family. No one, not even Grandpa Schubert, Anna's father, lived to be 100. He was still in his 90s when he died.
Albert Schubert and his wife Augusta had three girls in a row at the beginning of their family of nine. A.G. used to introduce these girls in joking fashion as "my first three sons." Wouldn't he be amazed to know that the middle girl of "his first three sons" lived to be 100.
If anyone should live to be a 100, it should be Aunt Anna. She has always been a health-minded person, chewing her food 100 times, watching her diet so she wouldn't gain weight. "She used to run her feet over the rolling pin," says my mother Martha Schubert Ehrhardt, remembering her older sister "and she took such good care of her skin. She'd use egg whites as a mask to clean her face and brushed her hair 100 strokes."
And now here she was on her 100th birthday at a quiet little celebration. She sat, graciously receiving guests in the new blue dress her daughter Janice had brought from California. Her grandchildren and great- grandchildren came to congratulate her on 100 years well spent and she hugged each precious member of her family, giving them her blessing.
Anna has always been our trailblazer, our landmark, our keeper of the family flame. She has always held the information, the names, the dates, the places that are vital to our history. She is the one who calls and writes and weaves together the outlying generations of second, third, and fourth cousins and knows their lineage.
With grace, Anna has spanned the time between 1900 and 2000. When she was a youngster, there was no telephone and now she watches with amusement her great- grandchildren playing games — of all things — on their mother's cell phone. The only cells in Anna's young life were probably the egg crates with their individual cells to fill and take to Strickler's Store in Ramona to exchange for groceries.
As we've watched our dear Anna age, we hope to follow her example and we're pleased to share her genetics. At each stage of her life she's carried her torch with dignity. We loved coming back to Ramona when Anna was in her 80s and she'd cruise by in her red car with a loaf of freshly baked bread for a neighbor, her hat set at a jaunty angle and her ear rings perfectly matched to her dress.
In her 90s, she eventually had to give up the car — that was difficult. But she still invited friends and family to her home and would set the table with her china, special glasses and a tiny bouquet of fresh flowers in the center, serve them dinner and suggest a game of cards later.
In her 100s, she loves a good joke, plays pitch with a fervor and bids wildly even though her eyesight keeps her from really seeing the cards clearly. Her great-grandchildren played pitch with her on Monday. "She's really good," said her 12-year-old great-grandchild, Hannah. It was Hannah and Anna against Jarod and Janice (Anna's daughter, Jarod's grandmother). "We won," said Jarod triumphantly.
We've all won! For over 100 years Anna has been spending another day in the country with us.
