Living Life to the Fullest

Photos by Darrin Phegley

Eating Healthy and Staying Busy

Born Anna Tapp on February 23, 1921, Dixon grew up with her family on a small farm in Corydon, KY. “My father was a small farmer. We ate out of the ground. Always had gardens. We had cows, but we only used them for milk and butter.” Something she attributes as a factor in her health and longevity. She was raised poor “like everyone else at that time” but reflects fondly on her upbringing. “Everything we ate was out of our garden. My mother canned everything in these green cans.” She recalled. “So, I ate out of the ground, and I still do as much as possible. I rarely eat fast food. Fast food is full of sugar and salt. I stay away from a lot of salt.” However, the spunky Anna does confess that around the holidays she will over-indulge in sweets. “At the holidays, this place is dripping in sugar.” In addition to healthy eating habits, Mrs. Dixon also takes an exercise class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She doesn’t smoke or drink. “I stay busy.” She explains. “I like to sew. I like to play piano. I like cooking and cleaning. I like a pretty house. I still drive myself.” 

Small Town Girl and Big City Adventures

Staying busy is the only way of life that Anna knows. During World War 2, “There weren’t’ any jobs around here so a couple of us girls got together, and we went to Chicago.” Having seen so much history, first-hand, Mrs. Dixon is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. Her optimistic outlook on life keeps her from elaborating on the hardships she faced looking for work as a black female during that era in America. With a smile never fading from her face, she remembers back on her days of youth in Chicago, highlighting only the fond memories. “I got all my education in Chicago. I worked during the day and went to school at night. I went two and a half years to junior college. I just did all kinds of odd jobs until I could get myself situated.” She loved traveling and seeing new places during that time, but there is no place like home. Anna moved back to Corydon to tend to her family’s property in 1973. She also fell in love and married around that same time. At 52 years old, Anna married George Dixon. The pair were married until the time of his death in 2008. Becoming a widow didn’t slow Anna’s zest for life. “I just kept on doing what I’d always done.” She remained in Corydon tending to her home until 2017 when she moved to Henderson. “I like outside. I love flowers. I had flowers everywhere. Me and my little dog weeded the garden and stayed outside a whole lot.”

Doing for Others

Volunteering is another important part of Anna’s joy. She did volunteer work for more than 22 years. “I took care of the elderly to keep them from going to the nursing home,” she erupts in laughter that becomes contagious to those within earshot. “I was the same age or older than some of the people I helped. When I tell people that they always get a kick out of it. The elderly taking care of the elderly.” Helping others helps you not think of yourself so much, which she claims is another reason she has lived to the ripe age of 101. “That’s my calling. I’m always doing something for somebody else if they ask me.”

Mrs. Dixon is already thinking about her birthday celebration for her 102nd birthday. She still basks in the high she felt from her 100th and 101st birthday celebrations. Having more than a century of living under her belt, Mrs. Anna is now purposefully enjoying her breaks from the hustle and bustle. She enjoys the relationships she has cultivated at Redbanks Senior Apartments and moves at her own pace. After all those years of working and volunteering, she grins and gleefully exclaims, “I think I’ll go home, cross my legs and sit down for a bit.”