Viola Aberly is 99 years old and full of life.

“I was born in 1919. You figure.”

Aberly says time hasn’t flown by for her. She has embraced nearly every moment of her life, she said.
“School was two miles away and that was too close for a bus,” she said. “The bus was a mule and wagon. That’s how old I am.”

She says her fondest childhood memories are the holidays she spent with family and friends.
The pictures on her shelves are of her parents and grandparents remind her of those times.
 “We went from one family to the other and ate good homemade fruit cakes and pies,” Aberly said.

She and her late husband have two children of their own who now live in different parts of the country.
“They live in Atlanta and Dallas,” she said.

She has done a considerable amount in traveling on her own, she said. 
She was a “Rosie the Riveter” gal- an iconic image given to women producing war supplies in factories.

While living in California, she made rivets for B-25 bombers.

During that time on the job, she said she may may different people from different cultures.

           “I learned a lot about how people different people live,” Aberly said. “I thought I knew a lot about how people live but I don’t.”

Today, she said she lives life enjoying what she loves to do and that’s painting.
  “I went to John McCrady Art School. I don’t know if it still exists. I don’t think so,” she said.

Aberly is just one year shy of the century mark. She seen a lot of places and has done quite a few things in her life. Her advice to others- “Just do your best. Whatever you do, just do the best you can.”