ST. LOUIS – As the police cruiser pulled up to the Five Star Senior Center in South St. Louis, the 102-year-old woman inside was able to check off another item from her bucket list.
"Oh yes, handcuffs and all," laughed Edie Simms, who received the courtesy trip from police.
"We're more than happy to do these type of things," St. Louis Police Department Sgt. John McLaughlin told KTVI. "We love it and we get more out of it than the seniors do."
Simms said she was thrilled to experience something that, after living 102 years on Earth, she had never done until Friday.
Simms bubbled with energy after the ride, dispensing wisdom as well as free pairs of socks and scarves to the others at the facility.
"Keep going, don't ever stop whatever it is you're doing and spend some time doing community service," Simms said. "Sometimes the person you reach out and touch is the only person that they will talk to in a day."
Community service is something this senior citizen respects and loves. Last year Simms sewed and stitched some 413 handmade items for the folks at Five Star Senior Center.
"I made my first dress that was wearable," says Simms. "I'm not saying it was good but I wore it to school when I was 10 years old."
"Here we've got a senior helping seniors and I just think that's the neatest thing," says Michael Howard, executive director of the Five Star Senior Center.
Recently, Simms made a trip to American Baptist University to talk about 100 years of remembering. She also celebrated a birthday, but has no plans of slowing down.
"The 25th of September," Simms laughed. "You can tell what my folks were doing on Christmas before. They were making babies."
By midday in South St. Louis, it was back to business as usual with a big game of bingo. Everybody in attendance got a handmade item to take home, courtesy of 102-year-young Edie Simms, along with some advice from someone who has seen a lot in her first century of life.
"It's a great world if you just open your eyes and look at it," says Simms.
