Ann Prather spent last Thursday, Dec. 18, much in the way she’s spent most of her days since moving here several years ago.
She spent part of her morning taking a walk and visiting with her neighbors at Carolina House. She stayed inside.
“The wind was blowing and I didn’t feel like going out,†she said. She likes to visit with her fellow residents, she said. “It’s something I do a lot. I like to see how they’re doing.â€
Then Prather headed over to Charles House in Carrboro for a little get-together with friends, something’s she done quite a bit in the past few years. That’s when the day got a little atypical. Prather turned 100 years old Thursday, and Charles House was ready to celebrate her accomplishment in style. There were tunes on the piano, a cake to be cut and, naturally, a hearty chorus of Happy Birthday.
Among the cards from well-wishers to open was one with the return address of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. With her daughter, Dr. Donna Prather of Carrboro, at her side, she opened the White House congratulations with quite a bit of enthusiasm. She took in the rest of the celebration with equal glee.
Donna Prather said her mother was the oldest of five girls. She grew up in a farming family in Nash County, near Rocky Mount. Her father was killed in a robbery when she was just 14 and she went to work in a department store to help support the family.
After she married James Boyd Prather, she moved to the Steelecreek neighborhood in Charlotte where she maintained a huge garden.
“She always stayed busy,†Donna Prather said of her mother. “She made her own clothes and made most of my clothes. And we were always freezing or canning food from the garden.â€
Ann Prather said she’s not quite sure how it is that she’s lived so long.
“You have to take good care of yourself,†she offered.
Her determination might also offer a clue. Whatever she sets her mind to, she said, she wants to do well.
“If I can’t do something well, I don’t do it at all,†she said. “Been that way all my life.â€
All 100 years of it.