Hupp looks forward to 100th birthday on Oct. 31

Northern Shawnee County resident Rosella Michelson Hupp has been looking forward to turning 100 for quite some time, according to her son and daughter-in-law, David and Mary Hupp of Mayetta, who threw her a big party last year when more of the family could be there.

But as Rosella’s 100th actual birthday — next Thursday, Oct. 31 — approaches, she’s still looking forward to celebrating the real thing.

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s coming up… if I make it!” says Rosella with a laugh.

Her approaching centenary gave her, her son and daughter-in-law a recent opportunity to get together and discuss a long life that’s given her an opportunity to witness the many changes that have taken place in her world, one that has been tough to navigate at times but has still left her with a strong faith and a lot of blessings to show for it.

“God has to give us a long life, and we need to do what we can for our health,” Rosella said. “We don’t always do that.”

Born in the “Roaring Twenties” and growing up in the Kansas City area during the Great Depression, Rosella said she had an excellent role model for her faith in her mother, the late Jeanette Michelson. Those days, she said, also taught her how to survive and be thankful for what she had.

“There was one time that our mother sat us down at the table, and we asked her, what are we going to eat?” Rosella said. “And she said, ‘The Lord will provide.’ And while she was praying, there was a knock at the door. A lady came over and said, ‘Could you use this angel food cake? We baked it, but we don’t eat it.’ So we had angel food cake… She prayed through those hard times, so I had a good example.”

One blessing that Rosella had was her twin sister, Rosalie.

“We weren’t identical, but we were close growing up,” she said of her relationship with her twin sister. “We did almost everything together. We were very close all of our life.”

Rosella and Rosalie, as Mary noted, would even wear the same clothes on some days without discussing what they’d be wearing beforehand, even going to church with the same outfits. And on some school days, as Rosella added, “if we didn’t agree, we didn’t wear the same thing.”

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