I meet a lot of people who are wonderful inspiration, especially those in the 70 and beyond group. I met a great woman through volunteering as a Master Wellness Volunteer.

Marie calls herself Miss Fit, which is her clown personna. She became a certified clown, after graduating from clown school.

Her latest volunteer program is called Clowning with Food. She dresses up, tells jokes, inspires, shares recipes, and gives out samples.

Of the many things I admire about Marie is her attitude. She is always smiling, always cheerful, always busy with volunteer efforts, always positive, and always coming up with new ideas of ways to help people. She will be 80 next year, but that doesn’t bother her. She is not cheerful because she has never had problems. Oh, she has seen plenty I’m sure. She’s had serious health issues, but you would never know it without asking her. She doesn’t dwell on them.

Today she told me that she got married her senior year in high school. Back then you couldn’t go to school if you were married, so she had to drop out of school; but that didn’t stop her. Later, she went back and took the final half credit and graduated. She did all that when she was a mother of four small children. Then she went on to college and graduated with a degree in gerontology. She has also served as a missionary and worked in the job corp, teaching job interview skills.

She is a Master Wellness Volunteer with the Ellis County AgriLife Extension Agency and she volunteered for five years at The Ennis Senior Center. I loved hearing about all the ideas she came up with for her planned activities for Seniors there.

Here’s to Marie and others like her. Here’s to all who inspire and who show us that life can be joyous in spite of difficulties.