ST. LOUIS — Her name is Mable Kennedy, but everyone calls her…Bebe. She is a friend to many. She's up to date on world events, local happenings and even…famous gymnasts.
“Simone Biles really lifted the standard of gymnastics,” says Bebe. “They are all doing lots of lots of flips that they never did before.”
And, she is also 99 years old. So, I wanted to see how do you live to be a healthy and joyful 99 year old?! Is it genetics? Bebe grew up in St. Louis, yes all 99 years. After losing her dad when she was just 9 years old to stomach cancer, Bebe’s mom raised the 4 on her own.
“Did she live until she was 99,” says Mary. “No, she was only 94,” jokes Bebe.
So, what about Bebe's adult life? Well, it was dedicated to helping others.
“Because I felt I had experienced and could speak from the heart about what is going on, the help that people needed,” says Bebe.
Bebe worked for a social service department before becoming a school counselor. Then, she got her doctorate and started teaching behavioral sciences. All the while, the single mom raised her son, Jack, alongside her mom. So, you could say she stayed and continues to stay busy!
“I take a walk everyday, for exercise, and do strenuous exercises everyday.”
Bebe walks, exercises, plays bridge with her friends, and reads daily, sharing she has to keep her body and soul…together. But, perhaps the greatest theme of her 99 years, the secret to her joy? Her faith. Bebe attends mass every day.
“Why do you go to church everyday,” says Mary. “Oh because I love Jesus and receiving the Eucharist is a joy.”
The 99 year old takes her values beyond daily communion, but giving back, too. She recalls the first time she met Saint Teresa of Calcutta in St. Louis.
“Well, I remember it all started I went to a performance and in walked two little missionaries of charity, and I said to myself I have seen the first angels.”
After Mother Teresa founded her Missionaries of Charity in STL, Bebe would go on to volunteer with the organization for over 40 years. She shares that she learned one very important lesson from the sisters…do not worry.
But of course, life at 99 is also thanks to the blessings of her…family including her son, Jack.
“He does everything and does the lawn and laundry, you name it, so I cannot tell you how grateful I am for that,” says Bebe. “I never would have been able to do those things without her help, so I received my mothers help and now Jack's help, both who have held me along in life, so what would I do without either one of them.”
Bebe is looking forward to her 100th birthday come November.
“That is the only reason I keep asking the doctor how much longer am I going to live, and he says when it is time it is time.”
Still, she shares: “I do not worry about it too much.”