Friends Jerrel Dean Hudgins and Francis Thomas have several things in common. For instance, they both love turnip greens. But one of the most unique things they share is their age.
Hudgins turned 100 years old in March. Thomas will celebrate her own centennial May 4.
“I attribute my long life to hard work,” said Thomas, the longest-living member of her family. “The hardest work I did was farm work. That included getting up before daylight and getting work done in the house before the field. We cleaned the kitchen at night when we got back. We grew cotton, corn, peas, beans and tomatoes. We lived out in the country. We were sharecroppers on a farm. We did not go to town for anything except flour.”
Hudgins remembers chopping cotton in her youth. Though she later came to be known for having a green thumb, it was roses she planted in her own yard in Chickamauga. Lots of roses.
Thomas fed Hudgins’ love for turnip greens, frequently sending her son over with some.
“I like turnip greens a lot,” Hudgins said. “She would send me turnip greens and poke salad too.”
Another thing they have in common is their love of church.
“My fondest memories have been at church,” said Hudgins, who attends Mountain View Church of Christ.
Though Thomas’ favorite memory was moving closer to LaFayette and going to a real school in her teenage years, “the thing [she] enjoy[s] most is going to church.”
“I go to church at Chickamauga Church of Christ,” she said. “I like the singing. They sing spiritual songs like ‘The Old Rugged Cross,’ which is my favorite song.”
Thomas attended school through eighth grade before she started working for a nurse named Frances Short who worked at Hutcheson, she said. Thomas worked for Short for 26 years as a maid.
Hudgins too worked as a maid for decades, spending almost 33 years on Lookout Mountain while her husband worked for the railroad.
If she had it all to do over again, one thing Thomas said she would do differently is to get a better education. She can read, but would like to be able to read better, she said.
“I’m glad to live as long as I have,” said Thomas.
She said she’s also thankful to have a friend to share it with. Though they’ve never met in person, she and Hudgins talk on the phone regularly.
“About four or five years ago, I remembered her sister lived there and I had the number and I called her and we’ve been talking on the phone ever since,” said Thomas. “She loves turnip greens like I do. That’s the only vegetable that we share.”
“I wish I had known better how to take care of myself like I do now,” Hudgins said.