A Century Of Living And Love

By Nancy K. Crevier

“It’s a lot of fun. I like it,” said Alvida Swanson, on the subject of being 100 years old. Mrs Swanson, who turned 100 on October 31, was joined by family and friends at a special celebration held in her honor, Thursday, October 30, at Ashlar of Newtown, where Mrs Swanson has lived for the past year.

“I think she is very surprised to be 100 years old,” said her daughter, Judy Corea of Newtown. An even bigger surprise for Mrs Swanson, though, was the arrival of her daughter Chris Bush and granddaughter Elizabeth Dos Remidos, who had taken a red-eye flight from California to be at the Ashlar party, as well as to attend the family birthday party scheduled for November 1.

“Oh my!” exclaimed Mrs Swanson, “This is wonderful,” as she enfolded her granddaughter in her arms.

Nor did she hesitate to say what has been the highlight of her 100 years of living — her family. “It is amazing, all the kids I had, the four of them, and all the things we did. We’ve had a lot of fun,” said Mrs Swanson.

Along with her two daughters, Mrs Swanson has two sons, Ken Swanson of New Hampshire, and Karl Swanson, who is from California. She also has seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

“She really loves it when the little ones come to visit,” said Ms Corea, and Mrs Swanson readily agreed, saying, “The little ones, they just swarm in here, and crawl into my lap.”

While poor eyesight has curtailed her voracious reading habit, she is kept plenty busy these days with bingo, arts and crafts classes, musical events at Ashlar, and playing with her great-grandchildren during visits, said Mrs Swanson. “And I have a lot of good friends here, too,” she added.