Adell Julie Thompson has seen her town transform from people riding horses and mules to riding cars.
A woman from Santee, California, celebrated her 107th birthday on October 10, Monday. Adell Julie Thompson's friends and family celebrated the occasion by organizing a birthday parade to celebrate her life and journey. When asked about the secret to her long life, the centenarian told WLTX that she does "what the Bible tells me."
Thompson was born on October 10, 1915. She shared that she never imagined she would live for 107 years. She said, "But the Lord spared me, and I try to do the right thing, I guess so people don't talk about you." She was born and raised in the Orangeburg County town of Santee, and that's where still lives. Over the course of her life, Thompson has seen the town transform from people riding horses and mules to riding cars. "Santee now is a city. I think it's past a city, it's so big," she said.
Thompson is the only daughter of the late Ferguson and Alice Seaberry Green, as reported by The Times and Democrat. She recalled how her mother used to take her to the city as a child. "My mama used to take me there in a T-model. My mama could drive a car, but I couldn't," Thompson said.
Adell Julie Thompson has lived through 18 U.S. presidencies and says she never imagined living to see Barack Obama hold office as the first Black president @WLTX
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After her mother passed away when she was 15, it was Thompson's grandmother who raised her. She has fond memories of her mother and grandmother baking cakes back in the day. After finishing school, she did a course to work as a substitute teacher and served as a second-grade substitute teacher on a couple of occasions in the 1930s. She got married in 1940 to her late husband Eddie Thompson.
She also spent many years working on the family farm with her four brothers. "We had a nice time on that farm and we made lots of stuff," she recalled. "Sweet potatoes, peas, string beans, butter beans, we had all that too." Thompson revealed that she could "pick 260 pounds of cotton a day" back then. However, she said she could "never do it" today and that even if she tried to, she "would drag."
"There wasn't nothing but dirt roads, horse, buggy, and wagon. We had the wagon to ride in and the mule," she said, recalling her days spent working on her family's farm.
Take a moment to wish Mrs. Adell Julie Thompson a happy 107th birthday! 🎉 https://t.co/X20OKYFOYs
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"We didn't know what a tractor was," said Thompson. "We didn't have one. We didn't have anything but the mule and the wagon." However, "I enjoyed those times," she said.
The interesting fact about Thompson's extraordinary life is that she has lived through 18 U.S. presidencies. She admitted that she never imagined living to see Barack Obama as the first Black president. "I had no dream I would see that," said Thompson, who has three children, six grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren, and three great, great-grandchildren. Thompson's life motto is: "Worship the Lord, do the right thing, be honest, treat everybody right and God will bless you."
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Cover Image Source: Youtube | wltx.com
