Write stuff

Beatrice Oldfield Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Publishing a book is no small feat, particularly at age 93. But Lake Highlands resident Beatrice Oldfield, or “Bee,” as friends and family call her, has done it. Oldfield’s father and grandfather were published authors, but until recently Oldfield’s only writing aspiration was to pen newsy letters to her close friends. Her buddies cherished the letters and urged her to write a book, but Oldfield stuck with letter writing. Everything changed once Oldfield began her tenth decade of life. “In your nineties you lose your sense of smell, and then your balance goes too. Just putting on your house slippers starts to look like a Riverdance audition,” Oldfield says. Her book, “Brace Yourself: a letter to those approaching 90 with coping clues from one who’s been there,” is full of practical advice and personal anecdotes that Oldfield says she wishes she knew when she turned 90. Topics included in the book run the gamut from personal hygiene and gardening to foolproof recipes and tutorials on safer ways to get into a car. Oldfield will donate a percentage of her book sales to the nonprofit White Rock Center for Hope. “Now that I’m this old,” she says, “I just pray for three things every day: to be useful, to be cheerful, and not to be a nuisance.” Oldfield and her 94-year-old husband, Charlie, have been married for 64 years and share their Lake Highlands home with two kittens, Winnie and Pooh.