This is another excerpt from my autobiography:
I had never known a person who was one hundred years old. Our Church Newsletter was celebrating Mr. T. Edward Ellis whose 100th birthday would be on December 31, 1986. I was hoping to find someone who would work with me on some sort of tribute. But to no avail.
On Dec. 30, I was at the Medicine Shoppe when I heard the name T. Edward Ellis called out. His daughter, Dorothea from California was picking up his medicine. I told her about my idea to make a celebration sign. She smiled and said:
“Pops would love that!”
The next morning I got out a heavy duty large piece of white vinyl cloth. I painted a two sided proclamation: one side to face the street and the other to be read from indoors. Each Side said :
The St. James Hamlet Celebrates
The 100th Birthday of T. Edward Ellis.
December 31, 1886 – December 31, 1986
The black letters were almost dry when I headed over to Sixth Street. Snow was softly falling as I draped the sign over their fence and added a string of colored lights attached to an extension cord. I rang the doorbell asking where to plug in the extension cord. While the colored lights began to glow, I was invited indoors. Dorothea led me to the table that displayed celebratory proclamations of Mr Ellis’s 100th birthday by many important officials.
I was invited to visit often. For almost two years, Mr. Ellis and I had many marvelous discussions. I was half his age, but I loved spending time with Pops, and he enjoyed my company too.
I was so glad that I took the time to celebrate an amazing man on his 100th birthday. The whole story will be published in my autobiography.