101-Year-Old Grandma From Memphis Is The Oldest Working Beautician And Says She Will Keep Going
Mar 21, 2020 by apost team
At 101 years old, Memphis resident Callie Terrell is the oldest working beautician in the state of Tennessee. The great-grandmother, who became a licensed cosmetologist in 1945, says that going to work every day is the secret to her enduring good health and happiness.
Most people are raring to retire as soon as they join the workforce regardless of their age. But Callie Terrell, who turned 101 on November 26th last year, is no ordinary woman. In Terrell's words, while most people are “so dry and droll” in their twilight years, the long-time beautician told ABC 7 she can’t deal with idle time. She has to keep doing the things she loves.
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That’s why this Memphis centenarian, who still gets up to go to work in the morning, shows little evidence of slowing down. Even after Terrell announced plans to retire from her job as a beautician on her 100th birthday in the interview with ABC 7, Terrell obviously seems to have put those plans on hold.
In her most recent media appearance with local outlet WREG News, she admitted that she is still working. When people ask her the question "Why?" she responds: "Well, I'm still alive!" But as the saying goes, choose a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
"I'm not used to just being up in the house,” Terrell told ABC 7. “You see I worked so long, I've just been around people and doing something exciting.”
Terrell says that she delights in her work as a stylist and feels like she has to keep busy to serve some of her loyal, life-long clients like her daughter Inez. But Terrell’s long, enjoyable career began decades before she ran a successful business and received her cosmetology license in 1945.
“From a little girl I always loved messing with my sisters' hair,” Terrell said in her interview with ABC 7. “They had beautiful hair. And I always enjoyed doing this.”
Terrell added that she attributes her good health and old age to the simple fact that she enjoys what she does — and always has. Moreover, she says this excellent work ethic has helped her live to 101, outliving many of her siblings, parents, and even customers. In the bridge club Terrell used to be a part of, she’s the only one who’s still around, too.
If work is the secret to a long life, it’s no wonder then why Terrell has decided to keep waking up and going to the salon despite her old age. Physically, she says she is still able to do many of the tasks she used to do when she was younger — and is grateful for it.
"Well if you don’t use it, you lose it and people want me to work on them and they pay me, so why not do it,” she said in her WREG News interview ahead of her 100th birthday.
For someone who has lived such a full and successful life across history, Terrell also has some advice for the next generation. "Just do the right thing,” Terrell told WREG News. "What I mean is, you may be a church person. You believe in the Bible? Just live it," she said. "Love people. Regardless of who they are. If they don’t love you in return it doesn’t matter.”
What do you think the secret to longevity is? Is Callie Terrell right? Let us know what you think, and pass Callie's impressive life story on to your friends and family.