Longevity is the prompt for week three of the 52 Ancestors challenge. I'm dusting off an old scrapbook layout for this one. In 2007, this was my response to a scrapbook challenge that asked my thoughts on aging.
Whenever I think of long-lived family members, my great-aunt is the first to come to mind. Effie Arvilla Crispen, born in 1896, was named for two aunts: her maternal great-aunt Effie Lake and paternal aunt Mary Arvilla Crispen. Effie married three times and had two children and two grandchildren, via her son. Her 100th birthday was celebrated in her community. I never lived near Effie and saw her only occasionally and briefly; however, my Grandmother often spoke fondly of her older sister.
No original photos were harmed in the making of the page. All photos were copied so that lumpy embellishments could be included. The text over the bottom right photo is an excerpt from the song referenced in the journal block, which says:
Aunt Effie
Effie Arvilla Crispen Knapp [Tonkin] Scherrer
August 27, 1896 - December 26, 1997
My great-aunt Effie was the longest-lived member of her family, living to 101. Until the end, she was sassy and stubborn and eccentric. She was a prolific letter writer and just loved to write about her family, her dogs and her home. She was the family’s oral historian, though we are not quite sure how true her stories really are. The country tune, “Don’t Blink” reminds me of her and of the stages of life we each walk through.
Life does pass so quickly and it amazes me how it speeds up each year until the days seem to fly by. It’s my hope to live each day, each year, to the fullest. To focus on what’s important. To age with dignity. To maintain my eccentricity and alertness. In short, to follow in Aunt Effie’s footsteps.
Elizabeth Richards
December, 2007
In my files is a fuzzy photo of Effie, taken in about 1960, that always makes me smile.
She was truly one of a kind!
I remember those layouts. She sounds like a wonderful person.
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