It's not the years in your life, but the life in your years. This is the theme of this week's Feel-Good Friday.

In 2023, the McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) surveyed adults 55 years and older across 21 countries on life purpose and aging. What they found is that having a life purpose and meaningful connections with other humans were some of the most important factors in not just bolstering health, but strengthening longevity. MHI called it “societal participation,” and defined it as “consistent involvement in deliberate activities that lead to meaningful engagement with one’s society and community.” 

Willis Wipf of Arizona is a testament to this. At 95, he continues to pour himself into handcrafting earrings; something he did for his wife, until she passed away in 2013 after suffering from Alzheimer's. So, Wipf is a real ladies' man, because he not only pours his heart and soul into his creations, but then gives them away to women for free.

At 95, Willis Wipf has turned a hobby into a heartfelt mission—handcrafting and giving away over 14,000 pairs of earrings to people across seven continents. https://t.co/kcjOHg7OeO

— ABC15 Arizona (@abc15) April 1, 2025

Willis Wipf, 95, doesn’t know every woman in his senior community, but they know him.

Many of them wear the earrings Wipf works on daily at a neighborhood workshop, where Wipf cuts rocks with a saw, grinds them into teardrop, triangle or diamond shapes, polishes them on grindstones and glues hooks onto the top. The earrings are so popular in part because Wipf has given away more than 10,000 pairs over the past two decades.

He started making them nearly three decades ago for his wife, Joyce, when they moved to a recreational vehicle park in Mesa, Arizona. Wipf used rocks he found on driveways and roads and in streambeds and mountains.

Joyce wore his colorful earrings nearly every day until she died in 2013 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Wipf was heartbroken over losing his wife of 59 years, and said he needed a reason to get out of bed in the morning. The lapidary workshop became the reason.

Wipf's goal in giving his handiwork away: He wants to make a woman smile. What a different world we would have if everyone made this a daily goal. Wipf only learned how to create jewelry in his retirement. In 1994, he and his wife Joyce retired from the family’s hardware store in Freeman, SD, and moved to the Arizona RV park and resort for people 55 years and older. Their RV happened to be across the street from a lapidary workshop, so Wipf walked the short distance to the shop and dived into learning how to use diamond blades and grindstones to craft jewelry and other accessories. While he tried his hands at accessories like belt buckles and bolos, he decided to collect rocks and make earrings for the love of his life, and this is what stuck, even after she passed away:

In deep grief, Wipf said he tried to stay busy by playing tennis and golf and singing in a community choir.

But as Wipf grew older and struggled to stay active, he felt even more of a pull to the workshop. He’s now there at least three hours most days, crafting a pair of earrings in about two hours.

He follows a strict schedule on weekdays: He goes to the workshop at 9:30 a.m. for 90 minutes, comes home to eat beef vegetable soup and a vanilla protein shake before taking a nap, and he returns at 2 p.m. to work for another 90 minutes.

After Wipf finishes a handful of earrings, he takes them home in his pockets and sticks each earring in a bowl of salt, meant to keep them upright, on his kitchen table. He pulls out one at a time to add glue and a bell cap, which he loops a hook around twice to keep stable. He then places the earrings in a MacBook Pro box that he turned into his case.

To continue making earrings with opal - which he said costs about $800 a pound on Etsy - Wipf eschews ordering takeout food and saves his Social Security checks. Over the years, he has kept track of the number of earrings he has made by tallying his bell caps and hooks.

Wipf, who said he offers earrings to most women he sees, also mails dozens of them to his children to distribute.

And they do. Even after suffering a heart failure episode in 2023, Wipf still sticks to his schedule. He now gets around with a walker and takes the short walk from his RV to the lapidary workshop. Wipf has become such an inspiration that Phoenix's KNXV featured his story on their program. It's an incredible tale of hope. One of the scriptures I hold on to as I age is in Ecclesiastes 9:4. "There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion."

Keep on living and giving hope, Mr. Wipf. We are here for it.

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