Honoring a tremendous milestone of a tremendous life, is the subject of this week's Feel-Good Friday.
Goals, y'all.
I turned 60 in August, beating the odds for several of the women in my family, including three of my sisters. For years I have claimed the dispensation of my great-uncle Louis, who lived to be 108, and was as sharp as a tack until the day he died.
One of the scriptures I hold on to with this is Moses' blessing to the tribe of Asher in Deuteronomy 33:25: "May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze, and may your strength match your days.” While I do all the practical things to help that along, my days are ultimately in God's hands. Which is why it is amazing to see God's hand at work in the long life of a local inspiration.
Mrs. Lillie Cunningham is Florence, Alabama, and Alabama state's oldest living resident, and on September 26, she will celebrate 112 years on this earth. Mrs. Cunningham is in a rare club known as the Supercentenarians.
Mind blown.
Mrs. Cunningham was born on Sept. 26, 1914, in Lauderdale County, on the banks of the Tennessee River. She has lived her entire life in the same place, which I find quite incredible. Mrs. Cunningham has lived through World War I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, and now the Iran conflict. She survived the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic and the COVID pandemic.
Like my own mother, Mrs. Cunningham grew up when Jim Crow laws controlled the Deep South and restricted the rights of Black Americans. She was able to experience life when her God-given liberties were wrongfully restricted, and now experiences those liberties without restriction. That is massive on any scale.
Mrs. Cunningham has lived through 20 Presidents of the United States, and was of the age to vote in 15 of those elections. In an interview Mrs. Cunningham did for NPR to commemorate her 110th birthday, she said she was looking forward to voting in the November 2024 election. Her message for the people who don't bother to vote, especially the younger generation, should serve as a wake-up call.
"I tell them to make sure to vote because at one time I couldn't vote or do anything. So, those that don't vote now, I ask them why they don't vote, because they have a chance to do things now that I didn't do when I was coming up," she says.
Lessons, y'all.
There is an incredible weight and depth to anyone who embodies this much history, so celebrating another year of Mrs. Cunningham's tremendous life is a huge deal.
It's also representative of the beauty of small town life. In my three years in the South, I have gotten to hear about and know some incredible individuals who are simply living their best lives without expectation or recognition. These are the people who can teach us the most, and deserve to be recognized as well as platformed.
According to Longeviquest, the oldest living person in the United States is Naomi Whitehead of Greenville, PA, currently at 115 years old and counting. So, Mrs. Cunningham is giving her a run for her money. For Mrs. Cunningham's 110th birthday, she received over 200 birthday cards from people across the United States, but everyone hopes to see that number topped for her 112th.
Cunningham recalls growing up on a farm and going to church. She has outlived her four siblings — as well as her husband — and has more than 100 nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
"I've been working ever since I was able to put a flour sack around my neck and pick cotton, chop cotton," she says. "So, that's just about almost all I did growing up. Was in a field chopping cotton, picking cotton ... go to school, go to Sunday school and on to church."
Mrs. Cunningham never misses church and still attends Rock Primitive Baptist Church, where she has been an active member since childhood. She attends church every Sunday and reads her Bible every night and every morning. I need to consistently employ that habit, meditating on God's word both day and night. I am sure this is a huge part of what has kept her mind sharp and her steps secure.
Mrs. Cunningham gives all glory to God for keeping her safe and sound through not just all the world events, but every day.
"I just always had faith and trust in God that he was going to carry us through regardless of what other people said," Cunningham says.
Mrs. Cunningham worked well into her 80s, so that's something else on which to take note. According to her grand-nephew, she had hip surgery at 102, and was walking around a week later. Mrs. Cunningham still drove herself around up until two years ago. When Mrs. Cunningham is not at church, she still loves to cook, watch game shows, and does crossword puzzles.
Simply amazing.
Kaytrina P. Simmons is the Florence city councilwoman for Cunningham's district, and kindly supplied these photos of Mrs. Cunningham for use in this article. Simmons is excited to celebrate another milestone birthday with Mrs. Cunningham, and gives her glowing praise: "She's great," Simmons said. "This is wonderful, and I am honored to be her councilwoman."
I invite you to join in this celebration and shower Mrs. Lillie Cunningham with love, kindness, and honor as she continues to make history.
You can send birthday cards for Mrs. Cunningham to this address. Simmons would like to receive all cards by September 21 in order to present them to her on her birthday on the 26th of this month.
Mrs. Lillie Cunningham
c/o Kaytrina Simmons
P.O. Box 44
Florence, AL 35631