Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412230040
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
She has wrinkles to be envied by any artist; a frequent smile laces them into the most wonderful expression of genuine happiness.
"I feel better now than I did when I was 40," the 72-year-old Nelson said. "I ain't old. I'm getting younger. I believe working keeps you young."
Healthy as she is, Nelson said her knees went weak and she "about passed out" when her employer, Holiday Inn-Airport, threw her a surprise birthday party and recognized her 20 years of service in the housekeeping department.
"I was just so shocked; Lord, they're just so nice," Nelson said with her "JESUS FIRST" pin catching the ray of sun streaming through the hotel room's curtained window.
Susan Shepp, director of sales, said she has had many guests remark about Nelson. One couple even made sure Nelson was still working at the motel before booking a room for a return visit.
"That says a whole lot," Shepp said.
The day can begin with a dreary rain, gray skies or cold winds, but Nelson's day always begins with a smile, according to her co-workers.
"She always says 'Hi' to me and says 'have a good one,' " Shepp said.
Mehdi Adloost, general manager, said Nelson talks with all the guests and is always pleasant, never once complaining about her work.
Talking with Nelson, one senses why she loves her job and seems to take the physical labor of making beds, vacuuming rooms and cleaning bathrooms in stride. And why she says as long as she is able to work, she will.
Nelson raised 10 children - five boys and five girls - all while helping her husband work a 52-acre farm.
"I was pitchin' hay the day before my baby boy was born," she said. Nelson added that being pregnant "wasn't nothing back then." All 10 children came out "as healthy as oxen."
Back then was 1940. She married "Mr. Nelson" and moved to West Virginia from Glen Lyn, tucked just inside the Virginia line near the New River in the state's southwest leg.
It was a hard life in some ways.
Food for the family came from the land. Nelson canned at least a 1,000 jars of "corn, pickled beets, 'maters, beans and dug our own 'taters." Hogs, chickens and cows provided the family's meat.
"The only things we had to buy were coffee, soap and sugar. And, we would buy half that by bringing in our own eggs."
Some memories of that time bring a stray tear to her eyes.
Nelson said she remembers crying and pleading with her husband after her fifth child was born to sign hospital papers allowing her to "have her tubes tied." Back then, the husband had to agree.
But Mr. Nelson refused telling his wife "there'll be more to visit when we get old."
So, Nelson did what she felt she had to do, giving birth to five more children - her last when she was 43.
For more than 30 years she stayed with Mr. Nelson. She left him and moved to Roanoke in 1971 with three daughters in tow. She doesn't believe in divorce, so she never filed for a legal separation. But, she never broke the promise she made on their wedding day to remain faithful.
When asked if she is still legally married, Nelson said, "No, honey, the good Lord took him away from us..."
Her faith in God seems to have carried Nelson through many years of what some would consider hardship. It also seems to have contributed to her attitude the hotel guests and her employers enjoy - optimism and hope.
On the day of her surprise birthday party, she was handing out tiny crosses inside a pocket, both made of yarn. Along with the gifts was a poem: "I carry a cross in my pocket, a simple reminder to me; Of the fact that I am a Christian, no matter where I may be.
"It reminds me, too, to be thankful for my blessings day by day; and to strive to serve him better, in all that I do or say."
by CNB