When Thelma Willow makes the rounds to All Of Us, a Vine Grove restaurant that is one of her regular hangouts, eating isn’t necessarily her priority.
She greets cooks, waiters, owners and friends, stopping to ask “What’s up, girl” or “How are you, girl?”
“Every place I go I see somebody I know. … You gotta keep active and keep busy,” the Vine Grove resident said. “If I just stayed at home I’d wilt away.”
Thelma, 74, was born and raised in the Hardin County hamlet, and she seemingly knows most everybody that lives there.
She’s president of the Vine Grove High School class of 1956, and she schedules get-togethers and reunions with her classmates. Thelma points at each person’s picture in her senior class yearbook and discusses his or her current state. She knows where they live or if they’ve died.
She knows all of it.
“It’s easy to remember,” Thelma said. “There’s 56 people in our graduating class, and I graduated in 1956.”
She checks her Facebook account several times each day from the desktop computer in her bedroom. Thelma has more than 100 Facebook friends, ranging from her family, high school classmates and students at North Hardin High School, where she taught English as a Second Language.
“I’m on Facebook every day seein’ what everybody’s doin’,” Thelma said. “I’m nosy.”
Though Thelma’s days slow down, the action doesn’t stop. She relaxes with family and her two dogs, Petie and Annaleese. Then she picks up the phone, ready to plan the next busy day.
