Arbors resident celebrates 100th birthday
She answers the door with a warm smile and introduces herself as “Dot. Just Dot.”
She says her gait is a little slower now, but she’s had a “very grateful life, physically and in every way.”
And today, she celebrates her 100th birthday.
Dorothy Knopf — or as she says, “Dot” — lived a significant part of her life in Yorktown. She started calling The Arbors Independent Living home a few months ago. She rehabbed from a fall at her daughter Karen’s house and realized she couldn’t just return to her longtime home.
“When I thought this change had to come, which was nothing but fine, I came here to The Arbors. I just love the surroundings, the park, and how fortunate I was to get this apartment with the view and bay window,” she says from her living room that overlooks Port Warwick’s Styron Square. “I loved this apartment when it was shown to me. … I had several friends who had moved here.”
She now lives even closer to her daughter, who is 10 minutes away, and a grandson.
“I’ve not one regret and enjoy it all. So friendly,” Dot says. “… Certain time of life, you need to be near family when you can. I think it’s very important. … It just seemed so nice to be here. It’s a nice size, not too large. … You know, I think I almost (have everyone’s name) down.”
She was able to move in her china cabinet, which was a Christmas gift from her late husband, and several other meaningful pieces.
“I think when you realized you could bring that, you’d be OK,” Karen says to Dot, who nods.
“I feel very much at home, and that’s a lot to say after living where I did for that number of years (in Yorktown),” Dot says.
Celebrating a century
Also helping her feel at home in Newport News is living close to family. She’s been close to her daughter’s family and friends throughout her life.
And it’s with her family that Dot chose to celebrate her century of life.
She, Karen and her husband, and their two sons and their families (including five great-grandchildren) are spending the weekend in the Outer Banks.
“My family have gone to the beach 47 consecutive years. We never missed,” Dot says. “Since (the children are) older, it’s harder. We’re going my birthday weekend. My best thing I love is going to Nags Head. We’re all getting together, we have two cottages and we’re going to have a wonderful weekend.”
There was no lack of celebration leading up to the big day, either. There were several smaller trips with Karen and her friends, and luncheons throughout the lead-up week.
“See what you get when you get old!” she says with a laugh.
“I’m grateful. I never knew anybody to be 100, I never thought I’d be 100 and there was never anybody in my family, so I don’t know what makes me different, but I hope Karen can carry it on.”
Warm welcome to The Arbors
Dot says the residents and team members at The Arbors have become “a wonderful word, family.”
She knew residents such as Marshall and Porter Booker and Joyce Belote before she moved in.
Joyce ran into Dot at a party at the Warwick Yacht Club when they were there with their children. Joyce said she heard a rumor Dot was moving in.
“She said, ‘If you ever decide to come’ — and I think it’s the loveliest thing — she said, ‘there’ll always be a chair at my table,’” Dot recalls.
(If you don’t have a tear in your eye right now, you’re doing better than this writer did when first hearing the story.)
“I went down to the dining room the day I moved in — and I stood there and I’ll never forget, I saw this hand go up and it was Joyce. I cry every time I tell it. There was my chair, waiting for me. … That’s like home and she welcomed me. It’s been lovely,” Dot says.
“That’s The Arbors and the kind of people that are here. Lovely people, and willing to help you or do anything for you. And I in turn like to do for them too. So, it works both ways; it becomes contagious.”
She enjoys dinner time, especially on Thursdays when the flower arrangements turn over and she can take home one of the centerpieces. She attends lunch outings, other socials and, often, happy hour.
“I’m not too old for that!” she says.
She also goes out often with her daughter, who is a retired teacher, and her friends.
“Mom is like another mother to those gals,” Karen says.
Dot adds, “They include me. They’re lovely. I’m very grateful to Karen and her friends because most of mine have gone to the angels.”
Before she moved from her home, one of her favorite hobbies was keeping up her yard. She was active with the church and in garden clubs. She enjoys to read. And yes, she still drives.
“I just enjoy people in general,” she says. “I love my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They’re grown now. I do love chatting with people; don’t want to be overbearing. And anything I can do for somebody.”
Karen says she always has done things for others.
“She’s been very lucky to be healthy and her attitude — she sees the best,” Karen says.
A love story
Dot developed much of her outlook on life from her husband. She became a widow 29 years ago.
“I lived with a wonderful man; we were young when we got married. I was one of the lucky ones. I gained a lot from him too,” she says.
He was in real estate and insurance, which is what brought the couple to Virginia many years ago.
“He lived by three things,” Dot says. “Your ACE factor. A-attitude; C-conviction and E-enthusiasm. Think of it, that’s your ACE factor. It adds up.”
She says she had a wonderful life with her husband of 51 years. They were both from Scarsdale, N.Y. and reconnected when he returned from being a prisoner of war (POW) during World War II while stationed with the Army in Germany.
“He went through a lot at a young age, right out of high school. He’s one of the lucky ones, he finally did come home,” she says.
It’s a beautiful story even when told nearly 80 years later.
“She and Daddy’s romance coming back from war could be a Hallmark movie,” Karen says.
She was still living in Scarsdale, about 19 years old, and Dot and her mother were at an ice cream shop in town near the train station.
“My Mama could see out the window, and she had a strange look on her face,” Dot says. “A train had come in, she says, ‘Bud, there’s a solider boy coming up the stairs in the distance. I cannot believe this, I think it’s Bobby.’
“My mother was beside herself, she was crazy about him as I was. She said, ‘go out and meet him!’ I didn’t know if I could move. But I did — I ran out in the middle of the street, cars were honking — and we just met up again. I brought him back into the ice cream shop to see Mom and she offered to drive him home.
“We took him home; he lived the next street to mine. His mother didn’t know he was here anymore than I did. And he invited us in! When he got out of the car, he said, ‘I’ll see you tonight.’ And he did. I can still see the expression on his mother’s face. She had three sons who were in different branches of the service. My husband was her baby. Never dreaming he would go through so much. But he came back. And he did come by that night, and ever since.”
Calling Virginia home
The couple moved to Virginia’s Eastern Shore when Karen was 18 months old.
“It’s where our roots are,” Karen says.
“I feel I’m a Virginian – and proud to be,” Dot says.
Dot said that while she has great respect for the mountains, she loved living near the water.
“We had a wonderful 51 years. That was most memorable, and having a daughter. That too was quite a day,” Dot says.
She says she was a wife and mother most of the time.
“In my time, very few women worked. It was more the homemaker. There’s plenty to do at home if it’s done right,” Dot says. “If you can accomplish it and do it in a nice way, I think it’s an honor. I went to business school, but there was nothing I really cared about. Not many jobs like today were offered in my time. … My ending years, I’m here at The Arbors.”
She also is a supportive parent and grandparent. Dot had a hand in raising her grandsons and great-grandchildren, never missing sporting events or musical forays. She’s looking forward to an upcoming grandchild’s wedding in May.
“I’ve had a very grateful life … I don’t overlook it. Whatever time is left, I’ve enjoyed all I’ve had given to me,” she says. “I think anything in life – overall – it’s a gift. I will close with this quote … I told Karen I want it on my tombstone … ‘Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is the present and this is our gift.’”
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