Last Updated on November 22, 2024
We lost a friend and inspiration when Julie Hawkins passed away recently at the age of 108. Julia’s passing was reported by nearly every major news organization in the world – not because she lived to 108 but because of how she lived to 108.
Julia gained fame when she started running at the age of 100 and promptly set new world age group records in both the 50 and 100 meters. At 105, on a cold and windy day in Hammond, Louisiana, she became the oldest woman in history to compete in a sanctioned track and field meet.
Standing on the track moments before the race began, Julia confided in Growing Bolder that her eyesight was failing and “keeping your balance is hard when you’re 105. Just standing still is hard.” She understood the risk of running and admitted to being afraid. “At my age you could fall, have a heart attack or a stroke. But I choose to look fear in the face and run,” she said. “I have had so many people say, ‘You are what I want to be when I grow up.’ If I’m being left here in life just to set an example for a lot of people, that would be good enough. If that’s what I’m doing, I’d like that.”
Julia overcame the many infirmities of advanced age with passion, purpose, the support of loving family and friends and a never-ending desire to enjoy each moment. “I believe when you get older you should have magic moments and passions,” she told us. “Older people need something to look forward to, something to be ready for, something to care about. And I do care about a lot of things. I care about flowers and birds and sunrises and sunsets.”
Julia was endlessly curious. She kept her body and her mind moving. She wrote letters to friends all over the world and wrote an autobiography at age 100. We visited Julia at her home in Baton Rouge where she shared her passion for gardening. Her yard was an official Louisiana Certified Habitat with over 75 native plants, all of which were tagged with labels. She was especially proud of her Bonsai trees, some of which were nearly as old as she was.
According to her family, Julia arranged to donate her body to the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University, which is studying longevity. The Pennington may learn something biomedical that contributes to longevity but the real keys to happy and healthy aging are in the life that Julia lived and not the body she leaves behind.
Her long and happy life was not the result of a unique genetic blessing. It was the result of daily lifestyle choices made over decades. The kind of choices we can all make in our own lives. We all have the ability, in our own way, to look fear in the face and run. We can all become collectors of magic moments. Julia Hawkins represents the potential that we all have. That, not a 100-meter run, was what made her so special and her legacy so powerful.
