Rosa Belle Sylvester Thompson recently turned 100 years old.

“You can win the lottery. You can win everything, but you can’t go.”

Rose says if she was about 25 years younger her plans would be different. “If I had a lot of money and I was about 75, I would want to go on a cruise.”

Rose says she had a great husband and a great life. “I had great children. None of them went to jail.”

Rose is one of nine children. “In those days they didn’t have tools to build a house they use to shave it.”

Rose said she remembers how her father had to convince her with ice cream to pick cotton.

“He would say go pick at the end of the row that’s your cotton. When you have enough we’ll go to the ice house and get a block of ice and make some ice cream.”

Rose explains that she got married at age 19. Rose would go with him out of state when he was in the service. “When I couldn’t follow I would come home; and then when they allowed him again I would go back and meet him.”

She says they adopted one child and then had three. “I love my children very dearly. If the Lord said pick one, I can’t pick.”

Rose says her husband was a hard worker and who took on many ventures. “We owned a restaurant, a store and a dairy. A jack of all trades.”

Rose says her advice about navigating life is to live it. “Live while you can. Enjoy every minute you can. If you love dancing, go dancing.”