Nan Wingo
Nan Wingo, born in Birmingham in 1930, met her late husband James at Birmingham-Southern College. Their first date was a football game, followed by dinner, where their waiter sang Nat King Cole.
Looking back over her 95 years, the advice she would give her younger self is simple:
“Don’t sweat the small stuff. I can remember lying awake at night worrying about things that turned out to be nothing.”
She suggests letting go of worry and leaning into what matters most. A longtime choral director who filled churches and classrooms with music, Nan believes life is best spent with the people you love.
“Spend as much time as you can with your family—and take trips with your children,” she says, recalling the road trips she and her husband took with their children decades ago.
Those are the memories that stay.
Meda Keefer
They met in their fifth-grade Sunday school class, and nearly sixty years later, Meda Keefer still means it:
“Larry’s my best friend, and I’m his.”
From the start, she was drawn to his kindness, sense of humor, and integrity.
“And he was a hunk!” she says, smiling.
The secrets to a long, happy marriage?
“We’ve told each other ‘I love you’ several times a day since we married.”
“We made a pact to always back each other up, especially when it came to the children.”
“And we like each other as well as love each other.”
One thing she wishes she’d realized sooner is to slow down.
“I was a chemistry teacher, cheerleading sponsor, student council leader, and somehow always ended up in charge of the prom. I couldn’t say no. I had so many things to do—I just went too fast. I wish I had spent more time at home.”
And one more pearl, offered with a smile:
“Don’t try to be your children’s best friend while they’re growing up—but you can absolutely be your grandchildren’s.”
Juanita Hoskins
Juanita Hoskins was born in Kansas City in 1930. When asked to sum up her life, she laughs.
“Oh, that’s kind of hard, because I’ve had a long life.”
She married young, raised three children, worked for TWA, and traveled widely before her husband, Carl, died suddenly after 28 years of marriage.
“I remember saying, ‘I can’t believe this is happening so soon,’” she says. “I was 49. He was only 50. It was hard to get through, really.”
“You just have to keep your faith,” she adds. “I had to create a new life and accept it. I had a lot of friends, so that helped.”
In the years since, she has built a full life.
Today, her greatest joy is family, especially her five great-granddaughters, with another on the way.
“They say she has my blue eyes,” she says of one with a smile. “They have wonderful parents. That makes all the difference.”