By Betty Jane Sheffield
- 1: Introduction
- 2: Childhood, WWII and Working for Blue Ridge Electric
- 3: Camping With Goats
- Download the full
article as a
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Click photos to enlarge and learn more. | |||
When Forrest Wilson turned 100 years old last May, people asked how he has remained in such good shape. He said, “Living a good clean life, being a Baptist, and being a Republican.”
His advice for a long and happy life is “have a sense of humor” and “make friends.”
“It’s easier to smile and make friends,” he says, “than it is to be a grouch.”
Mr. Wilson smiles at everyone he sees in the Lois E. Harrill Senior Center in Boone, especially pretty women, and it’s a frisky smile that sometimes seems to hide a secret or a sweet memory. He’s a regular at the senior center lunches, driving his Ford Tempo GL down from his Boone Mountain house off Highway 421 near Vilas after tending to his animals or other chores. He’s up at about 7 each morning and generally makes himself breakfast: grits or instant oatmeal, one cup of coffee, and two or three times a week he makes three eggs, sausage or bacon, and buttered toast with grape jelly or honey. His diet must suit him. He says the only time he’s been in a hospital was to visit. The only medication he takes is a half an aspirin per day.
| top |