Yesterday the Beanery Online Literary Magazine (www.ProBlogs.com/beanerywriters) featured Kathleen’s poem about a poet. The work of this very special writer began at age three and continued for a decade before the author died at age 13. Mattie J. T. Stepanek holds a special spot in Kathleen’s heart, which is why she wrote a poem about his very short life. Tonight I located a reflection piece I wrote in April 1998. It tells about several other very significant writers. While on vacation, I picked up a copy of Senior Scene, a supplement to the Review Daily, Bradford, Pennsylvania. In it was an article about a 103-year-old columnist who “keeps on writing.” Rose Nix Leo, Howard, Kansas, began her writing as a teenager. “I like to write,” she said. “If I can’t write and if I can’t think, I don’t want to be here…Often my tired brain is so obsessed with duties and my failing body seems about to slip into a ceaseless automatic spin, right then I stop and remember that the Power that was created within me is still available, as it has been all along. God gives us the ability to do, be it mighty or small.” She’s aware of the brightness of things, seeking beauty, adventure, discovery and increasing knowledge that wakens her to achieve. Her columns, published in three publications, are written by hand and mailed to her editors from her home. Leo also sends out more than 500 Christmas cards annually. Which reminds me of the late Hazel Graves, a Holland family friend. She summers in her hometown of Gouverneur, New York, and winters with her son in Roswell, Georgia. Hazel celebrated her 100th birthday this year. She sent Monte (my husband) a 60th birthday card. Inside was its usual handwritten note. For years, we’ve received the holiday and celebratory cards with personal, notes. Occasionally her son Xeroxes the notes, but generally they are individually hand-written. The Review also focused on Margaret Coolbaugh, an 80-year old who is “’content’ with her life, writing.” Living in a home in Towanda, Pennsylvania, she writes from the sublime to the silly. No matter what your age, she believes it’s important “to find something to do; otherwise, you’ll stagnate.” Way to go, ladies! What role models, what a legacy, for those of us coming behind you. Keep up the good work. To repeat Margaret, “No matter what your age.” Mattie believed this, as he wrote five volumes of poetry, Heartstrings, during his short life. How do we compare? Do we vegetate in front of the television set or computer, playing games and watching mindless shows? Or do we find a way to reach out to others, as Rose, Hazel, Margaret and Mattie did? Return to the Beanery Online Literary Magazine--- www.ProBlogs.com/beanerywriters ---tomorrow night to read Kathleen’s poem about children’s poems, a follow-up to her commentary on Mattie. | 
