Century of life -- Eunice Green keeps busy at 102 years old
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on September 9, 2004 2:00 PM
Miss Eunice Green turned 102 Wednesday, and she's going to have a surprise party Sunday.
Luckily, newsprint is too small for her to read. So don't tell her about the party!
And just forget about helping her with her chores, or she will get angry.
She walks with a cane, and she doesn't hear too well. But she does dishes, folds clothes and dusts.
Eunice Green
"The doctor wants her to keep doing these things, and she wants to," said her daughter, Thomasina Barnes.
The family moved to Goldsboro about two years ago when Mrs. Barnes' husband, Rudolph, retired from running a medical lab in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Barnes was an accountant before she retired.
Miss Eunice, as she is affectionately called by friends and family, still keeps busy.
"I love to read," says Miss Eunice. "I read a lot, anything and everything, mostly large print now, from the classics to the Bible, all kinds of books. I do puzzles, any kind -- as long as I can get it together."
She says she also loves to travel.
In May, she and her daughter and son-in-law went to El Paso and New Mexico, then to Virginia. She is from Petersburg, Va. In July, she and her daughter went to New Jersey.
Miss Eunice has lived with her daughter for 35 years. In the beginning, she helped take care of grandchild Michelle, who now lives in New Jersey. Michelle was to arrive today with her two children for the Sunday surprise party.
Miss Eunice attends St. Andrews Episcopal Church, where the Sunday surprise party is planned for about 12:30 p.m. The family expects about 40 people to attend.
She has three children, one of whom is deceased. She has five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Dr. Christine Ilunga's office staff sent her a large bouquet decked with balloons that sits on the glass coffee table in their home on Berry Street.
Two members of the office staff, Melinda Pace and Darnell Johnson, drive up Wednesday in a white van and deliver a birthday cake that says, "Happy Birthday, Ms. Eunice." They have birthday plates and napkins with them.
"Some days are good," says Miss Eunice. "Some days are bad. But when all is said and done, it's not too bad.
"I do what I can. I make my own breakfast and lunch, and we have family dinner together. I like to be active."