back
|
 |
90 years young
By
Darrel Radford
The Courier Times, January 27, 2003
Normally,
it's not polite to ask a lady about her age. As we get older, the issue of
numbers becomes dicier. Birthdays are often the stuff of black balloons,
jokes and teasing from co-workers or friends.
But that's certainly not the case with Betty O'Neal Giboney, who
enthusiastically tells anyone interested that she's 90. In fact, she's
been talking about it for the past two years.
"After my 89th birthday, I enjoyed telling people I was in my 90th
year," she said.
The big day came last Saturday. Ask any of her many friends, and they will
tell you that Betty - who worked as a writer here at The Courier-Times for
50 years - has treated aging like it was a dance routine she used to do in
New York City with the Roxyettes. She's done it with great grace.
Even osteoporosis and macular degeneration have failed to slow her down
much. She doesn’t drive much anymore, but she hasn't lost her drive.
Looking for Betty? You might find her doing exercises at Forest Ridge to
combat the osteoporosis. Or you could see her at a meeting of the Henry
County Memorial Hospital Foundation, one of her many volunteer efforts. Or
you could listen to her give a presentation at a local sorority about her
dancing career in New York City.
You might have to go all the way to India to find her. She was just there
in March. It's one of as many as 80 countries she's visited.
Her age seems to be the only thing that changes. Betty's friendly nature,
quest for learning and ever-present positive outlook have not changed -
even in the face of losing her dear husband, braving the blizzard of '78
or the daily challenges that come with living to be 90.
"You always have a goal," Betty said when asked for some advice
about living well. "You always focus on something beyond."
Betty O'Neal was a big city girl who found the treasures of the good life
right here in rural Henry County.
Ironically, moving to New Castle was a big part of what opened up the
world for her.
She met and fell in love with David Giboney, who may have been the real
"Indiana Jones" before Harrison Ford. He was a man who loved
adventure.
"If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have traveled at all,"
Betty said of the man she was married to for 40 years.
Giboney was a well-traveled engineer who was enticed by New Castle's
Harold Ingersoll to come and work for him. Thus began many years of good
fortune for Henry County - because he brought Betty with him.
The move brought hundreds of Henry County 4-H participants someone who
would write enthusiastically about them; hundreds of dogs and cats someone
who would be their advocate and The Courier-Times someone who would file
hundreds of well-written and documented stories.
Often today, when staffers here are doing research on a particular topic,
they will find a story with Betty O'Neal Giboney's name.
She didn't think so at first, but Betty says the move away from the Big
Apple was a healthy one for her.
"It made my life much fuller, much better," she said.
"Nobody would move from New York to New Castle for career reasons.
But here I decided to focus on what I could do for other people."
Those people included generations of participants in Henry County 4-H
programs. Betty was a fixture at the event for years. Clippings of her
stories no doubt reside in the scrapbooks of many.
Betty has also played prominent roles in such organizations as the Art
Association of Henry County, the Henry County Humane Society, where she
once worked at a near full-time pace at the animal shelter. She has also
made numerous visits to nursing homes with a variety of pets to cheer the
residents up and make them feel better through the loving eyes of an
animal.
And she's served as a reading tutor in New Castle's adult basic education
program.
What other advice does this worldly woman have for her admirers?
"Live fully," she said. "Take advantage of opportunities.
And if an opportunity comes to travel - go."
Travel is like molding and shaping the soul. Betty said it changes your
perspective on things.
"You're not critical of people who are different than you," she
said. "Right now one of my dearest friends is a Muslim. She was one
of my adult basic education students. I found out from her the ideals of
Muslim are similar to those of loving, forgiving Christians."
Her favorite trips? It's hard to choose, but Betty says that riding a
train from Johannesburg, South Africa was memorable. "The sky was so
clear that night," she said. "I saw stars and constellations in
a way I'd never seen them before."
Then there was the trip to the arctic circle, where the sun never sets.
"The sun comes down, skims along the horizon, then it just comes up
again," she said.
For Betty, that scene is representative of her life. Even at 90 - even
with eye problems - her sun is still rising.
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
Terms of Use | Privacy
Policy | Contact Us
|
