Bessie Redford, 102, remembers Christmas in times past as quieter, magic holidays, filled with the spirit of giving spent with family.

She grew up in rural northern Adair County near Knifley, one of seven children born to Levi and Elizabeth Keen.

"Mother gave each of us a different gift," Bessie remembers, "stockings, or a new dress, but always something we would put to use in our daily lives throughout the coming year."

She said, "All of us children would begin in early spring putting little dabs of money together, as we could come by it, in order to have money to buy mother and dad a gift at Christmas."

Bessie will celebrate this Christmas from her cherry room at Summit Manor Nursing Home where she is one of the most popular people in residence.

Ivy Collins French leaves her job at The Bank of Columbia every afternoon and goes to visit her mom there. She is one of eight children born to Bessie and Halice Redford. All the others live outside the county but visit as often as they can. Everyone schedules their vacations to be with their mother at her birthday each year.

Ivy speaks of her mom with pride in her voice, "we always look forward to hearing what she has to say." Bessie is a sharp woman who has demonstrated a spirit of survival and a good heart all her life. SMNH Administrator Brenda Williams says, "I could enjoy another hundred like Bessie, she's an inspiration. Just last week she was playing the piano for a group of visitors. Shes a four-year resident who loves being here."

Bessie reads her bible every day, prays every day and takes a nap every day - has all her life. She takes care of herself.

The Administrator recalled one afternoon when it seemed everyone on her staff was running to the kitchen asking for coffee grounds. She asked the reason and was told to come on down to Bessie's room, she was reading coffee grounds.

"When it came my turn, she took the white cup, poured out the small amount of coffee covering the grounds, turned the cup upside down into the saucer, then turned it over and began to speak.

"Amazingly, Bessie told me about two or three different things that would come to pass which rang fairly true- and they were things I didn't think she could possibly know about my life.

"When I shared the event with my sister Marti, she insisted on having her coffee grounds read by Bessie. We stopped by and asked, but were disappointed when Bessie told us, "I'm not doing that anymore since a preacher visited and told me that was a little bit on the side of the devil-I gotta quit."