, marymargaret@rustonleader.com
09-01-2006
Going to visit Miss Ruth Johnson is an event for which one should prepare.
I don’t know why I feel that way because she has never been anything but absolutely gracious to me.
But she has a reputation — make that a legend — which precedes her, and there is an aura of importance which surrounds her which belies her modesty.
Soon she will be 100 years old.
I can only imagine what festivities are in store for this grand lady.
But my recent visit with Miss Ruth hit a focus on another note.
I wanted to know the real Miss Ruth and the real life she had lived, and she did not hesitate to tell me.
It was a wonderful story of love of devotion.
If you could imagine asking a 100 year-old-person for his or her favorite time of life, I would certainly not expect to have the reply be now, but that was her quick response. And what about dying? The same thing.
She has no fear of the end of her life.
She is not in any hurry for that to happen, but if that is God’s will then she will face His will.
I was fascinated by her description of her upbringing — a time of being very poor but greatly loved — a time of happy remembrance.
She said there was wholesome food with just about everything which was eaten being raised on the farm.
The same held true for exercise, with getting to and from school requiring a six-mile round trip walk.
Both Miss Ruth and her brother have a glowing remembrance of their stay-at-home mother.
She would be at home as soon as they returned from school with a snack at the dining room table ready to hear about their day and to change them into their play or chore clothes.
Changing topics, once again, Johnson is absolutely frank about her personal life.
She said a lot of people ask her why she never married.
She said she never married because she never dreamed of marrying.
She said she felt that she had fulfilled all of the dreams she had for her life which the Lord had for her life.
She said she had fulfilled three basic dreams which she felt the Lord had for her life. Teaching was her first love.
Then just by coincidence, Johnny Maxwell offered her a job at the Holiday Inn.
And then, she started building houses.
She said it had been a perfect mix.
And who knows what will come next.
She said this is her favorite time of life.
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