A delightful 83 year old takes GED exam

Jewel Addison brings joy to her family and friends. Jewel Maydean Baxter Addison, the oldest of seven children, was born 1-7-1927 in Byres, Texas and grew up in Wichita Falls. At the age of 82 Jewel saw an article in the newspaper which said the Centerville High School was offering classes to prepare for a GED (General Educational Development) exam and she decided it was time.

On March 17 and 18, having already turned 83, a friend gave Jewel a ride to Madisonville and she took the test. As of this writing she doesn’t know if she passed but she says through tears “Whether I pass or fail is not important, although I would love to get my GED. What is important is that I made many new friends and that is worth much more than the GED.”

Turn the clock back to 1941 when Jewel was fifteen years old. She married her sweetheart, Richard Roden, who went away to fight in World War II shortly thereafter. Within a year Jewel received word that her husband had been killed. She was a widow at sixteen with a six week old baby girl.

The next two years were difficult but Jewel says she had the support of her parents as well as that of her inlaws. And then when she was eighteen her Uncle George MaGouirk, who was a Merchant Marine, brought home a young, handsome, fellow Merchant Marine.

Earl Addison made up his mind, immediately, that Jewel would be his bride. He had only to convince her. Jewel says even her baby girl, who was two years old, knew Earl would be her daddy. In a story that could easily be from a Nickolas Sparks novel, Earl and Jewel were married within three days of meeting. They had shared 58 superb years when Earl passed away in 2003.

After Earl’s death Jewel came to Centerville to live and be close to family members. She loves Centerville. She is able to walk wherever she wants and does so everyday. Not being one to sit around and mope she enjoys her trips to the post office, bank and grocery store. She said it keeps her active and it must be working because she is a scant 5 foot bundle of energy.

After spotting the newspaper article about the GED preparation, Jewel was apprehensive because many years had passed since she was a student. But her inner self and some friends, with whom she shared her desire, told her she could do it.

She was the last one to finish on test day but this did not cause her concern. She said “I told the teacher that I had forgotten more than those kids (who finished so quickly) would ever know.”

Jewel says she made some wonderful friends while taking the class and gives credit to her teachers: Janeen Cobb, Kim Carter, Mary Carrington and Colvin Walker. She is sure Walker sometimes thought he needed to drill a hole in her head and pour those math facts in.

Jewel has been blessed with a large family and loves spending time with her 12 grandchildren, 32 greatgrandchildren and 11 greatgreat grandchildren. She will soon have 12 great-greats. Recently at a birthday party she climbed the bouncy slide and slide down, twice, doing a belly flop at the bottom.

Being involved in the community is important to Jewel and she is extremely proud of being a charter member of the Centerville Lion’s Club. Also a woman of faith, she attends TriCircle Ranch Christian Center, and adores her preacher/teacher Tommy Campbell.

Jewel has told very few about her taking the GED exam, hoping to get the results before she spread the news. However she agreed that pass or fail the story may be an inspiration to someone else. She adds “If one person reads this story and is inspired to try something that scares them, it is worth all the work.”

She goes on to say “I did not do this for my children, my grand-children, my greatgrandchildren for my greatgreat grandchildren. I did it for me. I told a friend that I was doing what I did when I was a kid. I was walking to school”

General Educational Development (GED) is a series of tests covering five subjects which certifies high school level academic skills.