Q: In your wildest dreams, did you ever think you would live to see 2009?
A: I never thought I would. Oh, this is 2009. I forget that.
Q: Have you out lived any of your children?
A: Yes, all of them.
Q: How many children did you have?
A: Four. All boys.
(Helen's nurse reminded her that her son Ray was still alive.)
Oh yeah, Ray is still living. I forgot. He lives in Iowa. That's where I am from. I was born and raised on a farm in Iowa.
Q: When did you move to Glendale?
A: 1944 during [World War II].
Q: Is that why you moved to Glendale?
A: No, my husband had arthritis of the spine real bad and so the doctor recommended that we get into a warmer and drier climate.
Q: Definitely, this is the place to be.
A: Yeah, this is better. We didn't want to go to Arizona, and his mother had moved here so we came.
Q: How has Glendale changed?
A: Oh, it's changed a lot. The downtown was just a little street.
Q: Do you think Glendale has changed for the better or worse?
A: I would hope it's for the better.
Q: So, how do you stay healthy and active?
A: Well, I have been a dancer and try to get exercise.
Q: How long have you danced?
A: Well, I started when I was about 60, and I became an Arthur Murray dancer, and that's where all [my] trophies come from.
Q: How many championships have you won?
A: I don't know.
Q: Starting ballroom dancing at 60, that's pretty adventurous of you.
A: Well, I square-danced before then. When I lived on the farm, my dad belonged to the Odd Fellows [an American big band] and they had square dances, and that's how I started.
Q: Is ballroom dancing much harder than square dancing?
A: Oh yes, because you have to know all of the appropriate steps and moves.
Q: Have you stopped dancing?
A: Oh yes. I haven't danced since my husband died. He died in 1996.
Q: How did you get turned on to ballroom dancing?
A: I had a phone call, and they said I had a free lesson when I came in. I always liked to dance. I puttered around the house.
Q: You have seen many traumatic moments in U.S. history. Which one stands out the most and was the hardest to deal with?
A: I think the [Great] Depression was hardest.
Q: Tell me about your experience.
A: I really can't reiterate.
Q: The current recession has been dubbed the worst since the Great Depression. Do you agree with that?
A: Well, I haven't thought about it. I think people have a better control of things now than they did then.
Q: Was your family making ends meet during the Depression?
A: It was hard for everybody. I worked all the way through the Depression.
Q: If you could do over any moment of your life, would you?
A: I don't know that I would.
