Seldom do you come across someone like this!

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from the most senior client in my agency. Lee wanted to come by my office so he could pay his home insurance premium. He also wanted to discuss his auto insurance. However, even though Lee is a capable driver at his age, I decided I could help him a little by visiting him myself. Turns out, I was the one who was helped. It was an hour well spent.

This man called Lee is an alert and healthy 96 year old that I’ve known since he was a young 81. His abilities stunned me then! I remain stunned today!

Lee has a lifelong history of creativity. He actually majored in religion in college but got a minor in art. He said he took enough hours in art to major in that too! His home is like an art gallery where he has on display mostly watercolor pieces throughout his home. You see anything from portraits of friends to flowers to a ship on the ocean painted in intricate detail. The originality and bright color of these pieces is something to behold.

His wife passed about about 20 years ago and he has since traveled across the country by car with his sister who is 10 years younger than he. Jean is an active Sunday school teaching lady that could easily be considered age 60 or younger. Jean and Lee live in the same home in Nashville and have quite a setup in their home. They are both advanced computer geeks! They take digital pictures, download them on their computer and enjoy email with their friends each day. Forget the stigma that the older generation hasn’t turned the page to this modern computerized world! They’ve done it and are amazing at it!

Lee spent most of his life working as a church architect with Lifeway in Nashville. He has drawn up and seen some of the largest Southern Baptist churches come to life from his architectural drawings. If you were to drive around Nashville, some still stand today that he imagined with pencil and paper years ago. He retired many years ago but continued working on a contract basis after retirement.

His major hobby these days is woodworking. He has built chairs, tables, cabinets, bookshelves and so many other pieces over the years that he’s given to friends. He is a gifted carpenter and his work shows it. When I visited him, he wanted to show me his workshop and all of the tools and equipment he had. Once again, I was stunned!

To sit and listen to this man, alert as anybody my age or younger, you get a glimpse of what his secret is to this long and healthy life he has lived. He stays busy, he eats right and he keeps his mind and body active with projects. There is no sitting around getting old in that household. I asked him what a day in his life is like. He said: “I go to bed around 12midnight, awake by 8AM and then look for things to do around the house to stay busy.” That’s it!

Turns out, my 60 minute visit was much, much more than picking up a check for an insurance premium. I became a little richer by sitting in the presence of this dear man who has no plans of leaving us soon! As a matter of fact, he told me he had an uncle that lived to be 105 and he doesn’t see why he can’t do the same! WOW!