Mrs. Louise Levy on her birthday
November 1 is a very special day. It’s not only All Saints’ Day, but Mrs. Louise Levy’s birthday. At The Osborn in Rye, where she lives, she is revered for her irreverent humor and intellectual curiosity. She is also celebrated on campus for being the senior facility’s most senior resident. She turned 112 earlier this month.
We first met Mrs. Levy some 20 years ago, when all of us were a lot younger. She was showing us how she kept in shape, doing calisthenics in fashionable toreador pants.
She knows a lot of things, but she has no idea how or why she’s lived so long. Perhaps that’s a key ingredient to a long life: Less worry about such things? When we visited her last week to wish her a happy, belated birthday, she was dressed in a designer suit and Belgian pumps. She was always a snappy dresser.
She has fond memories of growing up in Cleveland and of the home in Larchmont where she spent 52 years. She is the mother of five and is fortunate that her daughter Lynn lives in Mamaroneck and visits often.
What makes her the happiest is that her family all gets along, she said proudly.
“I moved to The Osborn because I was widowed, my children were grown, and I missed being around people,” she recalled. “I never feel isolated here. There is always someone checking on you.”
For many years, she ran Movie Nights. For the past few years, she has had mobility issues, wishes she could spend more time outdoors, and now can no longer read. “I was a teacher and used to read to a woman who’d lost her sight,” she said pensively.
“I’m glad I still can speak and have kept my sense of humor, but I would caution you not to try and live to be 112!”
Few do, but then Louise Levy is that rare individual who found happiness at a young age and never let go.
- Robin Jovanovich
