A Good Life with Bumps Along the Way

Birthdays will always be worth celebrating and a way to make deeper connections at Arbor Terrace Shrewsbury. The July 26th celebration of senior resident, Jane Murphy, was no exception, despite COVID-19 and current news.

The spry 98-year-old was surprised with cake, balloons and an endearing drive-by visit from a few immediate family members.

When asked about her secret to a long life, Murphy responds, “There is no secret, really. You just need to be very organized, and my father’s side of the family all lived into their 90s, so I’m sure genetics play a part as well.”

As a young adult, Murphy wanted to become a nurse, but her father wouldn’t let her, so after graduating from Trenton State College, she became a teacher instead. Left a widow after her first husband passed away, she later married her childhood friend since kindergarten and now has three children, eight grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. 

Being born in 1922 and having lived through the difficult time of the Great Depression, she remembers feeling fortunate that her father then worked at the A&P supermarket and was able to bring home butter, which was in extremely scarce supply at the time. 

Of all the changes witnessed over her 98 years of life, Murphy cites the age of the computer and technology as the hardest thing to which she has had to get accustomed. 

“We started using the computer at the end of my teaching career, and I remember it was very difficult for me to learn and adjust to not writing everything by hand,” Murphy said. “But overall, I have lived a good life, with just a few bumps along the way.”