Margaret is 67 years of age, and has been widowed since 1986. She has rheumatoid arthritis, heart arrhythmia, and asthma. She has had hip, knee, and several knuckle replacements. She retired in 1980 due to health problems. Despite her health situation, Margaret stays busy by volunteering for the local Area Agency on Aging. She also serves on their Board of Directors -- as well as on several other boards relating to aging issues.

Margaret's children are both deceased. Her daughter died at age nine from a childhood illness; and her son died at 39, from a massive heart attack. She has one grandson and he is in the military. While she doesn't get to see him very much, she does keep in contact with her grandson and his family.

Leisure activities for Margaret include reading, watching television, and visiting friends. When her hands permitted it, Margaret enjoyed playing cards -- especially pitch.

A historic town in Lafayette County has been home to Margaret since 1990, when, as a widow, she remarried and relocated to be with her new husband. Prior to that her home had been in a small industrial/agricultural town in Laclede County. "I've always been an early riser," said Margaret, "and my volunteer activities give me a reason to get out of bed each day." She attended Ottawa University and Drury College, and has approximately 3 years of college completed altogether.

Her advice to other seniors on Successful Aging is: "Stay involved with others. I strongly believe we were all intended to work to improve our communities." Margaret's independence (i.e., her ability to continue taking care of herself) is of utmost importance to her; however, she also counts being with other people as very important to her life.

When asked to define Successful Aging for others, Margaret replied thoughtfully, "Your attitude is primary. Concentrate on making others happy, and most of all, stay upbeat!" She feels that others may consider her as 'aging successfully' because she has major health problems, but still manages to stay active. "I also get a lot of comments about my smile. Some say I remind them of the Energizer Bunny. I just keep on going!"

Margaret believes that living a long life may be genetic, but that living that life successfully is definitely an individual attitude. "The attitudes you develop [over your life span] make the difference."

There has a lot of experience in coping and overcoming challenges in Margaret's life. She has had many serious health problems (she was forced to retire from work at the age of 49 due to health problems). Her prescription for coping is, "First, know what you're dealing with. Then, look for people (friends and/or health care providers) who can help you. Then, just jump in with both feet!"

While Margaret did some financial and social planning on her own in earlier years, she was forced to retire before reaching an age when employer thought of preparing her for retirement. She has anticipated the possibility that she will spend some time in a nursing home before her life is over, and has provided the financial resources for herself to do so if it becomes necessary. In case they have to make proxy decisions for her at that time, Margaret has also discussed her plans with her family. She has also made some modifications to her home that will make it more "user friendly" as she ages.

As for traveling, Margaret doesn't go as much as she'd like, but she stays too busy to have much time for travel. She has taken several classes over the years at the local Vo-tech school for her personal fulfillment and enjoyment. Margaret is an active member in the Business and Professional Women, and has been for 40 years. She worked for the Division of Family Services (formerly the Division of Welfare) for 20 years -- the last 10 of which she served as County Director. Margaret believes that her years with the DFS helped prepare her for today, as she still has skills from her job training that she uses in volunteer work with the Area Agency on Aging and senior centers.

During her employment years, Margaret's friends were "Probably an equal representation of people with whom I worked, and people from other areas of my life -- neighbors, etc." Content with her life today, Margaret looks forward to more life and activities. She stays pretty upbeat, and feels her frame of mind has greatly improved over the years. She acknowledges that she battled depression in earlier years due to the loss of both her children.

What would Margaret do differently if she had a chance to start her life over? She might make a few "better choices along the way," but overall she probably wouldn't live her life much differently.

2001 Update: Margaret wrote in January. She wished us a Merry Christmas and a Great New Year . . . and then apologized for being late with hr update. The year 2000 was challenging to Margaret. On July 7th, she had a stroke. Thanks to life-saving surgery during the night, she was left with practically no residual effects from the stroke.

On October 31st, she returned to the hospital because she had practically no circulation in her right leg. An arterial bypass was performed, but four days after being released, the procedure had failed and she was back in the hospital. Efforts were made to graft a vein from her other leg, but that failed within one day of the surgery. During that surgery, her heart and kidneys failed but Margaret's great spirit brought her through. ". . . apparently God still had some work for me to complete," was her explanation for making it through. 

She was back in the hospital shortly, however, and this time a below-the-knee amputation was performed on her right leg. She was released on November 16th, with full-time help. On December 11th, she was again back in the hospital. The stump had not healed and she was in excruciating pain. Above-the-knee surgery was performed on December 18th. She came home this time on January 6th, and reported in her letter that she was slowly resuming her usual activities. She was being fitted for a prothesis, but for the time being she was finding her normal way of life difficult because she could not drive. She was happy that she still lived alone in her home, with four hours of "paid help" each day.

Margaret has been -- and continues to be -- a fantastic role model of successful aging, even in the face of many obstacles and challenges. Margaret is an inspiration to all of us for maintaining a positive attitude and a desire to help others, even in the face of personal adversity!