This Is The Astonishing 111-Year-Old Woman Who Is Still Shining

via MaxPixel

PushBlack
March 28, 2019

The granddaughter of an enslaved woman, Mrs. Hardy was born in 1908 on a Georgia plantation. She spent her early life picking cotton, plowing the fields and caring for livestock.

She even taught herself to read and write - despite having to leave school in the 3rd grade!

Mrs. Hardy spent 48 years of her life helping to raise her seven grandchildren and TWO other generations of grandchildren, all while holding down a full-time job as a housekeeper for various families.

Mrs. Hardy is a treasure trove of history and wisdom for her family: “She has a lot of stories and historical things that she's shared with us,” says her granddaughter Veronica Edwards. “Coming through civil rights - she's seen it all."

As a survivor of Jim Crow, one of her most painful memories is one of the KKK coming to her family’s home and abducting her cousin Dan. She never saw him again.

Mrs. Willie Mae Hardy celebrated her 111th birthday in Atlanta, Georgia surrounded by family and friends. Her secret to a long and happy life? To have faith in God and “love everybody, treat people right.”

We have to uplift elders like Mrs. Hardy. With so much love and wisdom to share, they are the living memories of our history.

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