By Susan Keith
City of Selma Council member for Ward 2.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Evelyn Youngblood passed away Nov. 28.

I loved Thanksgiving this year more than usual. There is always much for me to love about it, but like holidays as a grownup with grown children, there’s the other side of the coin that I don’t like.

There’s just not enough time to be with all the people I’d like to be with.

All the different families make it impossible to accommodate everyone or be with everyone I’d like to.

Add that to the ever-encroaching Christmas season by the retailers, and Thanksgiving is simply not long enough.

Be that as it may, Thanksgiving 2016 was a wonderful time. One of the most special facets was the presence and participation of B. Lee’s mother, Mrs. Evelyn Youngblood. Miss Evelyn is now over 104 years old.  Her mind isn’t as sharp as it was this time last year, but she still knows her family and those extended family members and in laws whom she has spent holidays with over the years, only seeing two or three times a year. She knew all of her great-grandchildren and spent a little time with each of them. Miss Evelyn had a grand time at Thanksgiving lunch at the home of her grandson and his wife, Dr. Lee and Becky Youngblood.

She engaged in a lot of conversation, and recognized some of her paintings. She talked about a particular still life, lamented its creation, and then declared that she wanted to take it home.

This lady is still a pistol at 104!

It is amazing, the life that Miss Evelyn has lived.

Born 4 ½ months after the Titanic sank, she remembers WWI, prohibition, the Great Depression, WWII, riding the train from Carlowville to Selma to shop, first telephones, first automobiles, and a plethora of other firsts.

She got the first bob haircut in Carlowville, and later, the first permanent wave (oh, the description of that!).

Born when people took horses and buggies or wagons as transportation, or if they were lucky, the train on a long trip, she would live to drive, cruise on seaworthy ocean liners, fly in jet planes, and travel the world. She would teach science, art, piano, and have a greater impact on more people than this non-assuming, unpretentious, kind, Christian lady could ever imagine.

At 104, she would still be able to have an interesting and pleasant conversation, enjoy a good meal, and play a mean game of dominos. Yes, sharing the day with this wonderful woman and her family was a blessing indeed. I am truly thankful.