Excelsior Springs, Mo. – This past Wednesday, May 14, Goldie Ricketts celebrated a milestone few ever reach: her 100th birthday. Surrounded by people she loves at Aspire Nursing Home in Excelsior Springs, soft-spoken Goldie shared stories from a long life full of hard work, carefree dancing, and time with family.
Goldie was born in 1925 in Harrison, Arkansas. Like many of her generation, childhood was less about play and more about doing what needed to be done.
“We worked in the field,” she said simply. “You didn’t get to have fun. Not that kind of fun.”
She married young at 16 and had four children in less than four years, including a set of twins. “I had my first at 18, twins at 20, and my baby at 21. All about the same age, all close together,” she recalled.
Though the times were hard, Goldie never let herself become discouraged. She supported her husband, who worked for the mail service, while also raising her kids and holding down part-time work, including operating elevators and other jobs that kept her moving and contributing.
“I’ve done some work,” she said. “Worked for the elevators, worked part-time. I did what I needed to.”
Her greatest joy, though, wasn’t in employment, but in motherhood.
“What do I want to be remembered for?” she repeated aloud when asked. “That I was a good mother. A good mother of four. I took care of my kids.”
Goldie’s devotion to family was matched only by her sense of fairness and kindness. When asked about the most important lesson she’s learned over a century, her voice softened.
“Treat everybody equal,” she said. “Everybody is equal.”
That outlook stayed with her, even when the world didn’t always return the favor. She recounted a time, earlier in life, when she and her husband struggled to find housing in Kansas City because signs read, “No children allowed.”
“It was terrible,” she said. “We didn’t have a place to stay.”
Despite the challenges, Goldie found time for shindigs, warmth, and laughter, particularly the time she spent dancing with her daughter.
“Oh, yes. Square dancing,” she smiled. “Saturday nights. I loved it.”
Her daughter Mavis, she recalled, used to come along, and Goldie would keep an eye out. “I’d keep the men away from my daughter,” Goldie said with a chuckle. Her daughter Mavis also lives at Aspire alongside her mother, where they are able to eat meals and spend time together.
Family was always a cornerstone of Goldie’s life, including cooking and meals. “My favorite bread was cornbread,” she said. “And I loved soup—any kind of soup with vegetables. And barbecue sauce. I use it on everything.”
Goldie moved to Missouri when her kids were just beginning to attend school, and it’s been home ever since. For a time, she shared a room at Aspire with a close friend named Markie, who shared, “We were roommates for a long time during COVID. We took care of each other,” she said. “We got along just fine. She’s always been a caretaker.”
When asked why she thinks she’s lived so long, Goldie just laughed. “I don’t know why. I never thought I’d make it to 100,” she said. “It never crossed my mind. Maybe it was all that barbecue sauce.”
Now, at 100, Goldie still does her best to enjoy the small things and memories from her life. “I was busy,” she said of her early years. “But it was a happy time. I loved my kids. I loved taking care of them. That was my favorite thing.”
And in that quiet answer is the secret to Goldie’s century of life: not just the work, or the dancing, or even the cornbread, but the relationships built through small, everyday actions that make life worth living.
Happy 100th, Goldie. Excelsior Springs is better for having you in it!
