Arlene Dawson, a Halloween baby born in 1933 on the outskirts of Cleveland, OH, learned quickly what it took to raise two children on her own in the 1950s. In her early twenties she had two children and remained living near her immediate family. She had, by all accounts, a normal life. But when her husband moved  to the east coast, leaving  her and their two children behind, life became a financial struggle.  Without her husband's financial support, she had to work two jobs to keep her family afloat. “It was very difficult,” Dawson said. “It was time consuming – working and trying to keep the…

Steven O'Connor worked in body shop in his hometown of Lansing, MI. Born in 1919, O'Connor was not able to enlist for World War II service due to a stomach condition. He married his wife, Helen, in the early 1940s, and dedicated his professional life to fixing cars. And for leisure he bought himself a hot-rod. "Being from Michigan, we loved Fords,"  Steven O'Connor explained. Lansing winters are cold. Their winters send shivers down the couple's spine when they think about it. For five months out of the year the average low is below freezing with an average of four feet of snow a year.Helen O…

Albert and Joyce Hardison can often be found sitting on a wooden bench outside Grand Villa's front doors. They sit peacefully, letting the stifling April sun wash over them. They wait patiently for a soft breeze. Born a year apart just outside Wilmington, NC, the Hardison's have known one another since the late 1940s. Time, like water over rock, has smoothed off their respective edges, forming one being."He was a smart ale. A showoff," Joyce said of her husband's behavior in the seventh grade. Without much to do, other than hangout at the beach, the two developed a bond that has endured for …

When Anita P. Long was born in Oklahoma City, OK nearly a hundred years ago, Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico and Hawaii were not part of the U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter-- and the rest that followed-- weren't born yet.  Long, who will be 100 years old on May 19, does not have a secret to her longevity, instead she chalks her century on planet Earth to divine assistance. “The good Lord has been good to me.” Long spent the majority of her childhood in Indianapolis, IN with her nine brothers and sisters. She was the third from the youngest. Long worked as a hotel room…

Recently, the residents of Grand Villa conducted a vote to elect a Queen. Everyone had a voice and each took their responsibility seriously. After each ballot was tallied and every hanging chad was debated, Ruth Luchesi was declared the winner. "I don't mean to sound boastful, but it felt good," she explained. "They even gave me a crown." This royal honor was a far cry from her upbringing. Born on November 19, 1919 to a poor, working-class family in rural Pennsylvania, Luchesi  did not have much. "It was a tough environment to grow up in."Matters were made worse when Luchesi 's parents …

As a young girl, Agnes Crawford did not take day trips to shopping malls or weekend jaunts into town. She didn't have the latest fashion in clothes or nice accessories. Instead she grew up poor, on a farm in rural America, with fifteen brothers and sisters and wore second and third hand clothes.   Crawford was born in February of 1944 in Muskegon, MI, a small city near Lake Michigan. When she looked out of her bedroom window, she saw the components of farm life. Endless fields, and expansive mountains in the distance surrounded her house, ensconcing it in bucolic charm. “There were no cement …

Thelma Parlato was born on Feb. 6, 1922, about seven years before the stock market crash of 1929. As a child of the Great Depression, Parloto relates to today's generation's economic crisis.  She saw how the financial crisis hurt families. But Parlato considers herself lucky. Her parents shielded her from the crises that absorbed most of the country. “I had no way of knowing it was a depression,” Parlato said. Growing up in New Haven, CT, Parlato's parents, who were both clothing manufacturers, maintained a normal life for her. “We went into the city to see shows. I really like Radio City …

Remember when Thomas Dewey defeated Harry Truman and when the "Gentleman’s Agreement" won the Oscar for best picture or how about when Dinah Shore’s “Buttons and Bows” sat atop the record charts. It was 1948. The same year Marian and James Conover got hitched. This Largo couple's love and commitment defined their lives. In the sixty-three years since they tied the knot, the Conover’s raised nine children- five boys and four girls.  The story of how they met brings to mind Rob Reiner’s testimonial in the film, "When Harry Met Sally."  Both were born in 1926. Marian is a tad bit older than …

While most people flock to the sunshine state for warmer pastures, others end up here by chance. It's fair to say that most Floridians boast to their snow-besieged friends that it's sunny in the middle of February. But there's one Largo resident who's unimpressed by this banter. Meet, Angela Hudson.  She was born in Buffalo, NY on February the 16th, 1943. She is one of four children. Instead of beach days, Hudson loves snow days. As a kid she liked sledding in the snow with her sisters. But those glory days are gone and she now lives in Grand Villa in Largo. She hasn't felt snow since she …

Clara Schacher stood on top of a chair wielding a baseball bat above her slight frame. Her sons Mario, then 18 years old, and Eddie, 14, watched below. “I am now your mother and father. If you screw up, this bat is going to be hit on your head.” It's Schacher's hard hitting personality that got her through tough times. For Schacher, there was no choice. She had to raise a family and make the best of a difficult situation. Her children's father left Chicago and returned to his home country of Argentina. Without his financial support, Schacher, was broke. She had to support her children in a …

Robert Hanson’s first job after graduating college was as a psychological social worker for the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Bob enlisted in the military to quicken what would eventually happen- his draft number called. His three-year stint in the Corps brought him face to face with GI's struggling with alcoholism. It was a post that required determination and yielded incalculable personal gains. “Everyday I felt like I accomplished something,” Hanson said. “Gaining their trust was everything. Once you did that, they would open up to you.” It is fitting, then, that Hanson would end up in Grand …

During World War II, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point was used to train Marines for combat in the Pacific. Commissioned in 1942, the military base is located on the Pamlico Sound, near North Carolina’s picturesque Outer Banks. From 1942 to 1946, Elayne “Penny” Peterson was a tech sergeant at the base. She was the seventh woman to dedicate her life to the Marine Corps. A tech sergeant, a rank the Marines no longer uses, is equivalent to a gunnery sergeant. With Peterson’s position, came responsibilities. Those male Marines under her pay grade did not begrudge her for her gender. “It was …

Ann Weiner was making her rounds in the intensive care unit of Philadelphia hospital when she discovered one of her patients was not responsive to touch or sound. Weiner, a licensed practical nurse, performed a myriad of tests with a registered nurse,  but the man still didn't react. “Even when we pinched him, we couldn’t get him to wake up,” Weiner explained. Eventually the man was whisked to surgery where he was resuscitated. Weiner who spent years saving lives as a nurse doesn't credit her swift actions to saving this man's life. Weiner demurely shook her head, “I didn’t think anything …