The oldest living alumni of the University of Chicago who is also Facebook's oldest user has a message for everyone, and it's worth thinking about.
Edythe Kirchmaier, 107, gives these words of wisdom to the young generation: "Think about others before yourself."
Edythe is no stranger to public service. According to FOX News, at 10 years old, she knit belts that help soldiers avoid being infested with lice in the trenches of the First World War. These belts served to attract lice, and they infest the belts instead of the soldiers' skin.
Before that, she was learned to engage in public service through her mother. Her mother would provide the poor people with food, and they would work for her in exchange.
Edythe's whole life is marked by volunteer work. She worked for 40 years in the volunteer organisation Direct Relief International, and has visited several places with her husband as part of their volunteer efforts. Edythe and Joe, her husband, worked as teachers in Taiwan.
Direct Relief International said that the couple provided assistance to humanitarian efforts in the wake of major earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, as well as in the relief efforts following Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina.
Today, Edith enjoys creating photo collages in her iPad and posting them to her Facebook page, Fox reports, which now has more than 50,000 followers. Direct Relief International also honoured her with a Facebook app that allows Facebook users to "light a candle on her virtual birthday cake" for the occasion.
When asked what the secret for her long life is, her children told Fox News that it is Edythe's "endless optimism."
"She has a very positive outlook on life, she's very religious and she doesn't let herself get down," her son Ray said. Ray also noted that Edith always sets goals even as she enters her 108th year.
"Her goal at the moment is to be with my granddaughter for her graduation in May," Ray shared with Fox News.
