Helen Ridge celebrates an amazing hundred years

According to news Helen Rae Larsen Ridge recently saw, only around two percent of people who have ever lived make it to the century mark of 100 years on this planet.  As a new member of that exclusive club, you can imagine that she gets questions about how she got there all the time.  Rather than a singular answer, Helen has a number of wise pieces of advice for those who aspire to follow in her footsteps.

One piece of advice she has is to stay busy, to keep active.  She singled out Activities Director Cindy Henderson at the Heritage Senior Living facility as someone who helps put that philosophy into practice.  

“You just don’t ever stop, do you?”  Cindy asks Helen as we talked in her room.  

Helen laughs.  “Neither do you!” she says.

Last week, the Center hosted an open house for Helen to give her a chance to meet with members of the community, and give them a chance to meet her should they take the opportunity.  Those who did were richly rewarded with a vibrant, sharp, and amazing person whose humor and good nature are infectious.

In addition to the community event, Helen’s family also held a special family birthday party for her, where she was able to spend time with many relatives, many of whom are still in the area.  

Born in Paris, Idaho in 1924, Helen has a special affinity for this year’s Paris, Olympics.  More than just the name connection, Helen spent time in France earlier in her life as a chaperone to touring students.  She visited a number of places in the Paris, and has great memories of that trip.  She also visited London, where her father was born.  Upon touring the address he had lived in, she discovered that the houses on either side still stood, but her father’s was gone.  She later found out that it had been destroyed in the London Blitz during World War II.  “You never know what’s going to happen,” she says.  

The same principle applied when she and her family moved to the Soda Springs area in 1965 from Montpelier.  At the time, it was a very hard decision as her children did not want to move, especially a son who was on the basketball team at the time. Eventually, the children found their footing, became parts of the community, married people they met here, and came to love the town.  Her son even played on a Soda Springs team that won the state championship.  “That made me feel a lot better about moving!”  Helen laughs.  “But it was the right thing.  Things happen for a reason.”

Her faith is central to how she thinks about the world around her and her life.

“Someone sent me a letter congratulating me for my hundred years, and the letter said, ‘I’m sure some of the days have been happy, and other days have been sad,’ and I think that just hit the nail on the head.  Life has a lot of sadness and happiness.  But in my opinion—and you can disagree with me on this—I think that’s what the Lord wants us to be, happy.”  

Throughout her life, Helen has followed the path that she felt she needed to in order to be the best person she could.  “I followed the laws of God and man,” she says, and it certainly seems to have paid off.

Another suggestion Helen has for longevity is to take an active interest in the world around you, and continue to learn.  “My second husband once said ‘when I get to the other side, I want to know everything.’  He was always interested in knowing as much as possible, and I think that’s a good goal to have,” she says.

Helen continues her strong reading habits, and is very well-versed in many areas.  While she herself doesn’t play an instrument, she has a deep love for musicianship, which she attributes to her father’s guitar playing.  She is still undecided about whether to pursue the piano, but potentially might, she implies, when she finds the right instructor and piano.

“I’m fortunate to be one hundred and I’m even more fortunate that I can still think clearly.  I know that isn’t always the case for everyone, so I’m very grateful.”  Despite being slightly hard of hearing, Helen is in amazing health for anyone, let alone a member of the triple digit club.  She is also sharp as a tack, sketching out a quick sentence in shorthand, which she learned decades ago, in order to illustrate a point.

Soda Springs is lucky to have such a venerable presence in town, and the Enterprise hopes that her next birthday is an even bigger celebration.  In any case, we know that she is capable of doing whatever she sets her mind to.  As she says, “You’ve got to be thinking of something all the time that you want to do, and if it’s a good thing, why—you should do it.”