-
Sunshot by Michael Hall — Myra Cook looks at one of her blooming mandevillas at her home in Hartwell recently.
Myra Cook moves with the ease of a spry 70 year old, but don’t let that fool you, she could be that spry 70 year old’s mother. At 91 years old, Cook is experiencing one of the strangest years she can remember in 2020, but that isn’t getting her down.
“I’ve lived a long time,” Cook said sitting in the kitchen of the Hartwell home she has lived in since 1962, when she was 33. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Cook said she hasn’t gone to a public place since February, when warnings were first given that the novel coronavirus was a public health threat. Instead, she has poured her energy into one of the things she likes best — her yard.
Perfectly manicured grass wraps around freshly pinestrawed beds that feature fall-blooming flowers and decorative bushes. Cook is responsible for every beautiful inch of it.
“I do all my outside work in my garden,” Cook said proudly. “I mow the grass. I have this yard and the lot next door, and that’s what keeps me going.”
Around back is a shed that doubles as a greenhouse where hanging plants abound and many a flower have gotten their start. Cook ensures each one is meticulously taken care of so they can thrive. Gardening helps her stay young because it gets her out of her house.
“I love being outside,” she said. “I think that’s really good for me.”
She was a longtime member of the Pine Tree Garden Club in Hartwell, but doesn’t participate as much as she used to, what with spending more of her time at home during the pandemic.
Home has always been Hart County for Cook. She was born in the Eagle Grove area and grew up as the second youngest of 11 children on a farm. She was the youngest of the four girls, was older than just one brother, and is now the only of her siblings still living. Aside from the outlier year that 2020 has been, Cook said she has seen plenty of changes since her birth in 1929.
“They’re altogether different,” Cook said.
She remembers living with no indoor plumbing or electricity. She remembers her family not having a car. She remembers when times were tough as a young girl during the Great Depression.
“Living on the farm, we didn’t get to town that much, but I can remember when they had hay, horses and wagons on Depot Street,” Cook said.
As she grew up, more modern sights became the norm, and by 1945, when she graduated from Hartwell High School, the world was changing quickly. The U.S. and its allies were bringing World War II to a close and the new modern country was ready to emerge. Myra would soon marry Douglas Cook, a Navy veteran, and raise a family.
The war was being fought on the other side of the world, but Cook said even as an adolescent, World War II was part of their lives in Hartwell because several young men had been drafted and gone to fight.
Douglas died in 1999 after multiple heart surgeries. She remembers him as a wonderful man.
“He was the one all the women loved,” Cook said laughing. “He was just a good person.”
They had a daughter, who now lives in Cumming. Cook also has three granddaughters and nine great-grandchildren who she sees regularly.
“They come by about once a week to say hey and check on me,” Cook said.
After her daughter graduated high school, Cook worked for Southern Umbrella for 29 years before retiring. Today, when not keeping her yard in impeccable shape, Cook spends time with her cat, Sissy — “She’s a big black cat. She’s real fat,” Cook noted — and passes the time reading, doing puzzles, coloring and playing solitaire on the computer.
By coincidence, Cook is also known as being quite good at just that — cooking. She would always contribute to bake sales for organizations like the Pilot Club, of which she was a member for a long time, or for church events, or just for visitors who would stop by for a chat.
“I don’t cook as much as I used to,” Cook admitted, but when family stops by, you can bet there will be a pot on the stove.
She gets around without a cane or a walker. She still drives on occasion and she doesn’t miss a beat in conversation. Cook lives with a quality of life not all 91-year-olds get to experience. She chalks up her longevity and health to many things, but her faith and her spiritual life are what keeps her strong. Cook has been a member of Bethesda Methodist Church for 73 years.
“I’ve lived a long life. A good life,” Cook said. “My favorite Bible verse is, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ I really think that is true.”