Found God on Earth: Ms. Jeanne Murray Interview

Jeanne comes to Studio 40 to speak with us, Aging with Grace and Purpose, on a beautiful day in June. She and Yuko met at the Phoenix Club, a gathering conference of aging women who share each other's passions and interests.

"Everyone has something to give," Jeanne says. "I know! I know! I know!" Older people are sometimes too comfortable thinking they are right. She shared with us the wealth of knowledge and experience throughout her life and career. Her tenacious nature and positive attitude are contagious. She is one energetic and the kindest New Yorker anyone who meets her soon becomes her fan. Jeanne was an elementary school teacher for 33 years. Off the screen, she shared an anecdote about a few of her 2nd-grade students. At the beginning of the school day, one mid-September morning, a few of them announced they didn’t have their homework assignments. One said, “Mom thought it was garbage, so she threw it away.” Jeanne asked the child, “What made your mom think it was garbage?” As one student after another gave dubious reasons for the missing work, Jeanne began to lose patience and silently calculate the number of days left, not only to the end of the month but to the end of the school year! Finally, there was one student with her hand raised, indicating she had something to add to the scene. With undisguised weariness, Jeanne asked her, “And what’s your problem?” The little girl cheerfully replied, "I don’t have a problem! I just want to tell you that I love you!” With a gentle smile, Jeanne softly replied, “Thank you” and the morning proceeded on to the day’s Language Arts lesson. To this day, Jeanne is still amazed and impressed that a little child could see anything lovable in an annoyed teacher and with a big smile and happy voice, proclaim that love loud enough for everyone in the classroom to hear! #podcast #interview #motivation #love #education #misconceptionsofaging#aginggracefully #agingwithgraceandpurpose #universalityofchurch

ABOUT OUR PODCAST: We are in our 60's. Very different backgrounds: one being the native New Yorker, and the other having lived in the NY Metropolitan area for the last 36 years but having had very limited experience in New York City. We met at Senior Planet, a senior center in Chelsea, this winter and started sharing our passion for photography and arts. Together, we are going to explore what more is there in our senior years. To learn more, we started talking and listening to the guests who generously appeared in our podcast. This is our journey to find Aging with Grace and Purpose. I hope you like our stories. You never know if the next guest will be YOU sharing your one and only story!