My Favorite Centenarian
Our “favorites” week continues today with my favorite centenarian….my mother’s first cousin, Douglas Manning. Douglas is the son of my grandfather’s older sister, Janie. This past weekend my mother and I, and two of my cousins traveled from California to Yoakum, Texas to celebrate his 100th birthday.
Douglas started as a 25 cent an hour shipping clerk in the early 1930’s at the Tandy Corporation, a leather goods company that later acquired Radio Shack in 1963 and became a billion dollar company, as Mr. Tandy had said it would.
Douglas spent his whole career with Tandy and went on to become the president and chief operating officer and then ultimately the CEO and Chairman of the Board in 1978….a long way from the shipping department and a 25 cent an hour salary!
He worked hard and smart, but that isn’t what brought him to this milestone. His longevity comes naturally. It was 25 years ago that my family traveled to Yoakum to celebrate my Aunt Janie’s 100th birthday. Aunt Janie was Douglas’ mother, and like him she lived in her own home until her death at 106 years of age. She was a great cook and loved to make pies and to work in her garden. “It has to be a pretty bad day for me not to be in the garden,” Aunt Janie told me at her 100th birthday celebration. When I asked her if she had a favorite memory over her 100 years, she thought for a quick second then replied with her sweet smile and a twinkle in her eyes, “Having dinner on the grounds at church. I make the pies. Everybody always loves my pies.”
It was a very fun birthday party. About a hundred of us were on hand to celebrate. After we sang, Douglas announced to everyone through some happy tears that, “any fella with this many friends here to celebrate with him would just have to be happy!” We cut the cake and started celebrating.
The cake was designed to look like tooled leather.
There were cowboy boots and saddles like the ones the company he ran made.
He has his prize saddle, one the leather workers at Tandy Brands made especially for him, in his living room.
The mayor of Yoakum was there to present him with a Proclamation in honor of this big event.
At the party, Douglas sat at the center of the room and spoke with his guests as they came one by one to tell him Happy 100th Birthday, and wish him well.
I asked him too, about what his favorite memory of the last 100 years might be. He said he would have to really think about it because “there were just so many”. I told him what Aunt Janie’s answer had been to that question when I asked her on her 100th birthday and he laughed and said, “Mother did always make the best pies!” Then he teared up a bit and added, “I can tell you that as much as I have been fortunate enough to do in my life, I know I could have done more for the Lord. I want to spend whatever time He gives me now making that right.”
Here is a man who is personally successful, surrounded by a loving family and many friends, a man who had a very successful career by anyone’s standards, and whose health is good, and mind strong and the thing that he is concerned with, having made it to 100, is what God has left for him to do. It made such an impression on me to hear this. At 100 Douglas isn’t waiting to die, he is living life to its fullest. He isn’t wishing he had seen more places, had more travels, made more money, acquired more assets, no…he is hoping for more time and wanting to be around longer so he can do all the things God has for left for him to do.
Douglas in his 100 years has certainly acquired many things…wisdom may be the most important of all. For he clearly understands, as maybe only someone who has lived so long can, how fragile and fleeting life is. It is not the material things that matter in the end, it is only the eternal things that really count….what you have done with what God has given you.
He is a beautiful example of a life that is full of love, joy and a lot of abundant living! When we said “goodbye” I told him I would be back to celebrate his 105th birthday.
He laughed and said “Well, I hope you will….I hope you will.” So do I, Douglas:)
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What a lovely tribute to our beloved relative. He was always bigger than life to me when I was growing up and he still commands love, devotion and respect just by being in the room with you. Thank you for, Robin, for honoring him today.
Oh my gosh I remember going to Yoakum for Aunt Janie’s 100th birthday. At the time I remember thinking she was the oldest person I had ever met. I can’t believe Douglas is 100!
Thank you Robin for sharing Douglas Manning’s 100th birthday party. Remember being there for Aunt Jani’s 100th. You all look great!
This is such an inspiring post , dear Chums and such a good reminder that no matter how old we get , our lives can still be useful in our Masters hands.
onward and upward!
xo
You may not remember me, but I’m Sally’s brother from Corpus Christi, TX and just wanted let you know how cool this is. Uncle Douglas is really great guy and it’s neat to see the pictures and your write up. You mentioned “Aunt Janie” my Grandmother Janie and one of her comments after turning 100. I also asked her what, in her lifetime, was the most amazing or important event or thing that she could remember taking place. I reminded her of several major historical events that took place, but she said yes there were many things she could remember, but the really biggest event in her life was when they finally got indoor plumbing and she no longer had to go to the outhouse. Small to us, but big to her.
Of course I know you Mike 🙂 Thank you for taking time to read our post, I sure appreciate it. What a great man Douglas is! We are all very fortunate just to know him, much less to be related to him. Your grandmother Aunt Janie was always so special to me. As a child i always loved when she came to California to visit. Maybe it was because her brother my grandfather, John, was always so thrilled to have her here…he surely loved his older sister as did Aunt Mary and Aunt Rhoda. I can remember, even now, all of them talking about “Janie coming” with great excitement. She was always so sweet to me and took an interest in anything I talked with her about. i have such lovely memories of her 100th birthday celebration and still laugh about the fact that at 100 she told me she was “having a fuss” with her kids. “What are you all fussing about Aunt Janie?” I asked. “Well I want to add on another bathroom and 2 more bedrooms to my house. My children say ‘Mother you are 100 years old why do you need another bathroom and a couple of bedrooms?’ But they just don’t know how much company i have!” I loved it because even at 100 she wasn’t thinking about dying, she was still very much among ghe living and planning for her company….how great is that?!!!