KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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“It’s never too late to try something new.”
That might be a phrase you tell yourself when thinking about starting a new hobby, or when you fail to.
A man living at Santa Marta Retirement Community in Overland Park assisted living community lives by that phrase.
“My bucket list is getting lower and lower, and I've had a pretty exciting life, really,” said Jerry Stephenson, painter.
Stephenson turns 100 years old on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Although it was only 15 years ago that he found his life’s hobby: art.
“At age 85, my wife had thought, well, it’s time we went to a retirement facility,” he said.
She wanted a place where they could live the rest of their lives slowly. But that wasn’t a word in Jerry’s vocabulary.
“Art in the purest form that is hard to resist,” he said.
A fellow resident convinced Jerry to pick up a paintbrush, and with a few brushstrokes, he crossed art off his bucket list.
“I'd wear out just painting. But because you get so involved and concentrated,” Stephenson said.
Another old saying goes, “A picture is worth 1,000 words.” And Jerry has one that’s priceless.
"My favorite, though, right here. That's my wife,” he said of one of his works.
For Stephenson, a life well lived is a life without regrets. He said he thinks young, and that means there’s no limit to what he can do.
I asked him if he ever wished he had started painting earlier in life. His answer was no.
"I don't. That's my life's history now,” he said.
As he’s watched history unfold around him for a century, he’s learned to never say never and never say no. Unless it’s about sharing the secret to life.
“If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret,” Stephenson said.
He also learned that even at 100 years old, it's never too late to surprise yourself.
“I had no idea I had such talent and ability. It goes to show we have unknown capability,” Stephenson said.
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