Almontha “Rose” Meadows told her daughter-in-law, Vickie Meadows, to live every day like it’s her last. After all, that’s what Meadows has been doing for more than 100 years, and it seems to be working.
Meadows, who simply goes by Rose, celebrated recently her 103rd birthday surrounded by family, friends and staff, at the Health Center of Plant City.
On her cake were four pictures, each taken at a different time in her life — ages 2, 15, 23 and 99.
Rose was born March 11, 1911, in West Virginia. She married her husband, Fonce, at age 18 and moved to Ohio, where she lived for 70 years. Together, they liked to go fishing and hunting. In one of her black-and-white cake photographs, Rose sits on the ground in the forest in her worn boots, her hand confidently propping her head up.
“She’s a very outgoing, very religious woman,” Vickie says.
It wasn’t until the spunky 4-foot-10 Rose reached her 30s that she started having her children — Richard, Suzy and Gary. During that time, she worked for 19 years in the lunchroom for Harrison County schools. She was part of different women’s societies, and she loved helping out with her church, whether it was in small groups, bake sales or candy-making.
Throughout her life, Rose also collected antiques. She loved to peruse garage sales for hidden treasures. Vickie remembers one year, when she went to visit Rose in Ohio. Rose had an antique couch she needed to pick up from the seller’s house. She promised it would fit in her large station wagon. When they got to the home, the couch was on the front porch waiting for them, but it didn’t fit in the car. The two women — Rose in her 80s — single-handedly lifted the couch on top of the car and secured it.
Her favorite antique was another piece of furniture, a French provincial couch she had recovered. She would warn visitors to her home not to sit down too hard.
“That’s one of her pride and joys, that couch,” Vickie says.
As the years passed, Rose watched her friends and family slowly disappear. She says watching family pass away is the hardest thing about getting older. She took care of her mother-in-law, mother and husband, until he died.
She lived alone in Ohio until she was 90. Vickie and her husband, Richard, moved her down to a little house on their property in Willow Oak. She lived in her quaint cottage until she was 100.
For her 100th birthday, friends and family gathered from as far away as Alaska to celebrate at a party held at The Club at Eaglebrooke, in Lakeland. Many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were able to spend time with her.
“They think of her like she’s the Energizer Bunny,” Vickie says. “She keeps going and going.”
Not even two strokes and a wheelchair could slow her down. She’s been at Health Center off Wilder Road for 18 months after her health, both mental and physical, declined. But she still loves visits from Vickie and Richard, who visit her every day.
“She’s one of a kind,” Vickie says. “I love her.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.