104 years of giving

Nov. 1 , 2006
By JOSEPH M. DELEON News-Post Staff
jdeleon@fredericknewspost.com

      FREDERICK — During a photo shoot at Northampton Manor Health Care Center on Monday, Bertha Pickett sat near her rumpled bed while a photographer adjusted the lens.
     Behind her, a picture of a pale, young girl with dark wavy hair gazed across the room — Ms. Pickett at age 17.
     The photographer tried to get Ms. Pickett to smile, but she stuck her tongue out instead. The furrowed tendons on her hands rippled as she locked her fingers together under her chin and then batted the camera away.
     When you've lived through nearly 20 presidential administrations, you can do what's on your mind — Ms. Pickett was in no mood for a picture.
     She walked out of the room unsteadily, but with deliberate steps to visit her favorite haunt: the nurse's station. That's where Ms. Pickett meets with residents and talks to staff and visitors.
     She turned 104 on Friday — the oldest
resident to live at Northampton, said
activities coordinator Tiffany Hebenton. Ms. Pickett has lived there for about five years.
“We have a growing elderly popula- tion, but it's so nice to see someone of her age walk around and talk as much as she does,” she said. “Bertha's not afraid to tell people what's on her mind — if she thinks you have a large behind, she'll tell you.”
     Ms. Pickett usually gets around in a wheelchair to reduce the danger of a fall, but she likes to wander on foot, Ms. Hebenton said.
     “She's always very helpful, sometimes too helpful,” she said. “If someone is putting on a sweater, she'll help, or if someone drops something, Bertha will bend over and pick it up for them.”
     Julia Pickett, Ms. Pickett's daughter-in-law, visits with family friend Rose Bonsal a few times a week. Ms. Pickett's son, Norman Pickett, 82, can't come because of back and foot problems. His wife teases him that his mother can get around better than he can.
     On visits, they usually eat lunch, but Ms. Pickett often leaves her daughter-in-law behind to hang out at the nurse's station.
     “She loves to talk, but she doesn't eat much these days,” Julia Pickett said. “She always says ‘When you don't work, you don't get hungry.' I guess that's true.”
     Ms. Pickett lived her life on a farm raising cattle, pigs, chickens and guinea fowl. She also grew corn, wheat and wormseed — an herb grown to extract a medicinal oil.
     The joints of Ms. Pickett's cold wrinkled hands are enlarged, but her grip is strong and steady. She spent her spare time quilting.
     Julia Pickett unfolded an undated newspaper clipping from the Sykesville Herald. The yellowed paper shows Ms. Pickett stitching a 101-by 89-inch quilt with two other ladies.
     “She made a lot of quilts in her years,” Julia Pickett said. “She was a hard little worker.”
     Before she came to Northamp ton, Ms. Pickett gave a lifetime of quilts to friends and family, including 11 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. Her Woodbine home sits empty, except for a grandson who occasionally makes repairs to the deserted house.
     In her room, pictures of family members line a storage cabinet. A vase of red roses catches dappled sunlight from the win dow next to her bed. Baby dolls sit on a table in the corner, arms outstretched, faces frozen in eternal smiles.
     These are the things that remind her of the life she led and that bring her pleasure today.
     “She likes to touch you and hold your hand,” Ms. Bonsal said. “The best part of the day is to see her smile with that twinkle in her eyes.”