A plaque hangs on the bedroom wall of 98-year-old Grace Spinks that reads:
“I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
It’s believed to be a quote from Quaker missionary Stephen Grellet and for many years it has been the way Spinks has approached her life.
One of her retirement home’s very first residents, Spinks has been a fixture at Wedgewood House for some 16 years. During that time other residents have come and gone but she has remained the heart of the Wedgewood community.
Proudly the oldest person at Wedgewood House, Spinks has no desire to age quietly.
From cutting off all her hair to raise funds for the Terry Fox campaign, to controlling the Wii on game nights, to playing cribbage and bingo and scrabble and even mediating card table squabbles, Spinks is always on the go.
“We’ve always got a project,” she said.
She’s always taken part in every activity and is often the ringleader, Wedgewood House manager Linda Fonck explained.
“They do not mess around. This group is movers and shakers and she will be right at the forefront of every event,” she said.
Leadership comes naturally to the mother of six.
“I never had a job when I was growing up; I got married and had six children. So I’ve done every job there is to do, raising six children,” Spinks said with a grin.
And, as a result of her involvement with the Wedgewood House community, Spinks recently earned the British Columbia Seniors Living Association’s 2017 LEAP (Let’s Embrace Aging Passionately) award for Resident of the Year.
She was nominated by Fonck and her fellow residents.
“Every resident here was 100 per cent behind us nominating her for this and they were totally thrilled that she won,” Fonck said. “They just cheered. They were so happy. We don’t know anybody who is a better community citizen, who looks after other people and always thinks of other people. She’s going to be 99 this year and she’s still, every day, thinking about other people. She has always been the lady who most represents what we want Wedgewood House to be about: being part of family.”
Spinks had the option of an all-expenses-paid flight to Kelowna to receive the award but opted for a road trip with her daughter so she could stop along the way and visit her grandson and his family.
The awards ceremony was held at the Delta Hotels Grand Okanagan Resort in the grand ballroom. Fonck and her daughter were her guests at the event.
“It was the greatest thing I’ve ever been to,” Spinks recalled. “Dinner for 300. Four courses of dinner, wine with every course. It was great. I’ve never had anything like this before. I felt very special.”
The fact of the matter is, Fonck explained, Spinks is very special and deserved every accolade.
Fonck’s only regret was not nominating her sooner.
“But I finally did it and I’m glad I did,” she said.
And, despite the award recognizing her accomplishments, there’s still more on Spink’s to-do list.
“I’m going to hang glide off of Mount Prevost when I’m 100,” she confirmed.
Grace Spinks’s acceptance speech (for the full speech go to cowichanvalley citizen.com):
I didn’t practice up for getting old, It just happened one day at a time.
I never worked outside my house, not a teacher, doctor or nurse was I But with raising six children I did all these jobs and more as the years went by.
I worked as a farmer, maid, chauffeur and cook,
And I didn’t have Spock or Phil for help, or even a “How To” book.
I thank the Lord for 60 years with my husband, a good provider and mate. And I was thankful to my husband for my children — Having a family is really so great!
They are always there when I need them, like when the rent is due,
And for the past 16 years the Wedgwood’s residence and staff have been my family, too.
Oh, and just a little note for all of you out there that are younger than me.
Remember just because I wear glasses doesn’t mean that I can’t see. And just because I have help with me and trouble trying to walk .
Doesn’t mean you can’t address me direct, I still have a brain and can talk.
My thoughts are still the same as when I was young and sometimes haughty, I still have aspirations, hopes and dreams and sometimes my thoughts are slightly naughty.
I try to live each day I have with a positive intention.
I can still hear, and see and get around…oh… and did I forget to mention, That next year I will have worked at 100 years of living?
And I say worked because the payoff you get back is really what you were giving.
Give kindness and be tolerant and know that you are blessed. Well that’s what I try to do after I struggle to get dressed.
I would like to be remembered most for my positive attitude.
Oh-e-e-Did I mention that on my 100th birthday I will jump from a high altitude?
Yes I always said I will go hang gliding on my 100th birthday.