Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a series featuring Albert Lea’s centenarians. The series focuses on their memories of the past and what they’ve done to live longer, healthier lives.

Walk into Nora Hendrickson’s apartment at Oak Park Place in Albert Lea, and it’s not uncommon to find her working in a book of New York Times crossword puzzles.

Hendrickson, one of Albert Lea’s centenarians who will turn 103 this summer, has the mind of a young person.

A former teacher, she’s an avid reader and loves to engage her mind in brain-stimulating activities.

It’s clear she’s done many things right over the years — not just because she’s lived to be over 100 but because she was able to do so with ease.

Not only is she still able to move around well, but she can also recall dates of the long past and the more recent past without any trouble.

Born July 9, 1906, on a farm west of Hartland, Hendrickson was the third of seven children.

She said she loved to go to school as a child. If it was nice outside, the children would walk three miles into Hartland where the school was, but if it was rainy or cold, their father took them.

She recalled the first car her family had when she was a child, which was a two-seater Maxwell with no doors in the front, no top overhead and carbon lights for driving at night. The family had that car for many years until her father finally bought a Dodge car, Hendrickson said.

“We thought we were really in style then,” she said.

She worked hard as a youth bundling grain and corn and helping with other duties on the farm.

“When we were through with the harvest, Dad would always reward us,” she said. “He’d take us to town for ice cream.”

She remembered playing simple games like “Kick the Can,” “Drop the Handkerchief,” “Duck, Duck, Gray Goose” and “Captain, May I?” to name a few.

In her younger years she worked at Munsingwear and American Gas in Albert Lea. She also used to stay with mothers who had new babies and help take care of the babies and the other children.

She graduated from high school in Freeborn in 1924, took a year off and then went to teacher’s training in New Richland for a year, where she graduated in 1926.

She taught school for several years and then attended Mankato State, obtaining a bachelor of science degree in education.

She taught 15 years in the country, Hendrickson said, and 16 years in Albert Lea as a first grade teacher.

On Nov. 10, 1929, she married her husband, Ernest Hendrickson, after they met at a dance. He was from east of Hartland.

Together, the couple had two girls, Marilyn and Darlene.

Her husband worked in heavy construction, oftentimes having to go away for months at a time. He also worked at Wilson & Co. in Albert Lea for a while, earning $25 a week, she said.

He passed away in 1976 at the age of 74. They would have been married for 47 years at the time he died if he had only lived another two months, she said.

When her husband was still alive, the two talked a lot about how much things had changed over their lifetime, Hendrickson said.

At one point gas was 15 cents a gallon, coffee was 30 cents a pound and sugar was 5 cents a pound, she recalled. Things are definitely not the same.

To occupy her days now, Hendrickson takes part in many of the activities at Oak Park Place, including daily exercises, trivia activities, crossword puzzles and church services.

She said she likes to have her friends and neighbors over for coffee in her apartment, too.

She moved to the facility about three years ago, after living at 1443 Margaretha Ave. for the 50 years prior.

Doris Callahan, one of her former neighbors, called Hendrickson “a true friend.”

Callahan said over the years she and the centenarian bonded and would go to retired teachers meetings together.

“She’s always been so gracious and loving, and she’s always been so kind and always speaks well of everybody, Callahan said. It just rubs off on you being with her.”

In addition to keeping up on her reading and puzzles, the centenarian embroiders. This winter she embroidered three pairs of pillowcases for her great-grandchildren.

“I just live a normal life, I guess,” Hendrickson said. “But I’ve been blessed with good health. I’ve had very few surgeries.”

When she was in her 90s, she had thyroid surgery and also had to have a hip replacement surgery after she broke her hip.

She recovered well, however, and gets around quickly with a walker. She said she tries to go outside to walk when the weather’s nice.

“I have a wheelchair, but I haven’t used it yet,” she said with a smile. “My doctor told me to keep walking, to stay out of that bed.”

She said when she was growing up, her mother was a good cook.

“We didn’t have much money, but we always had plenty to eat,” she said. She recalled having oatmeal, pancakes or waffles in the morning for breakfast. And every Sunday they’d have chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, lots of vegetables and pie.

They always had a big garden.

“We had average good home-cooked food,” Hendrickson said. “I’ve never been one to eat out.”

At Oak Park Place, she said, she eats half a serving of everything that is served to her. That is more than enough, she noted.

The centenarian also talked of the importance of her faith and family and the strength they have given her.

“I think she would do anything for anyone,” said Oak Park Place care manager Angie Drescher. “She’s just that type of person.”

Drescher said Hendrickson never complains and she gets lots of family visits. Those make a huge difference.

Hendrickson loves to see kids and kids love to see her, Drescher said.

The 102-year-old loves the Minnesota Twins.