There have been few, if any, dull moments in the life of Hope Senior Apartments resident Angeline Paraskevas.
Paraskevas, who turned 97 on Jan. 13, recalled how she once snuck out for a joy ride while her husband slept. She took some neighborhood kids on a trip in her husband’s Studebaker to Belle Isle.
Things were going great…until she tried to turn. She accidentally hit another car, and then the fun began.
‘The man who was in the other car just stopped and looked and ran,? she recalled, laughing. ‘When I hit him, it hit the bottles he had near his fender. He had water, whiskey or what, I don’t know, but it spilled from the car. He didn’t stop to give me any help–he just ran.?
Belle Isle was also the setting for the time Paraskevas nearly drowned. Someone pulled her out of the water by her hair. Did it scare her? Quite the contrary: she went right back into the water.
?[Almost drowning] didn’t scare me,? Paraskevas recalled. ‘I went right back in. I didn’t do that with the car, and that was my biggest mistake. When you don’t have a car, you’re handicapped. My daughter always drove the car and we’d go out together.?
Even decades later, Paraskevas gets a good laugh at her attempt at driving and her near-drowning, and getting a good laugh frequently is what she attributes to her longevity.
‘I wanted to be an actress, and that’s why I’m a joker,? she said. ‘I laugh a lot and I make everybody else laugh and they feel good. That’s what I try to do’make everybody feel good here. I love everybody here.?
By ‘here?, she is referring to the Hope Senior Apartments, where she lives with her daughter, Kay McNeil. In fact, she’s the oldest person at the retirement center.
What’s it like being the most senior person at the retirement center?
‘I’m very spoiled,? Paraskevas said. ‘I’m the joker here, believe me. I have everybody laughing and everybody’s kind and they’re all good to me. I have no complaints about the place here. It’s a wonderful place to live retired.?
Born in 1912 ? the same year the Titanic sunk ? Paraskevas remembers World War I and how her uncle returned from serving in Europe. He brought her a beautiful pin watch from Belgium.
‘Back then, people would pin watches on their shirts,? she said, recalling she was six or seven at that time. ‘I remember [the war] going on.?
She also recalled the rationing of items like sugar, butter and meat during World War II.
These days, Paraskevas prefers to occupy her time with her two favorite pastimes ? gardening and bingo.