Monday, May 6, 2024
Bundrant pictured wearing a birthday sash and crown at her 100th birthday party.
Bundrant’s birthday party was held in the dining hall of the nursing home, where her family and friends gathered to spend this special day with her.
Rachel Bundrant (middle), pictured with her youngest brother Ashby Lee Melton, Sr. (left) and sister-in-law Patsy Melton (right).
Activities Assistant Christy Cox and Bundrant enjoy the party while dancing to music.
Bundrant and Damian Lee, Activities Director, took the dance floor while attending the party.
Bundrant pictured with Damian Lee, Activities Director, who planned the party for her 100th birthday.
Rachel Bundrant, resident of RehabLiving at the Meadows, celebrated her 100th birthday on Wednesday, Nov. 8 with a birthday party which included her family and friends along with a dance party.
Bundrant was born and raised in Coryell County and is number seven out of 11 children.
“I was raised in Ater on the river between Levita,” Bundrant said. She did not attend high school but went to a school in Ater during her early years.
Bundrant recalled how she lived within the Ater community until she got married, where she then moved to Levita with her husband.
“Her husband and our daddy built them a house and part of it is still standing today,” Ashby Lee Melton, Sr., Bundrant’s brother, said.
Bundrant got married in 1940 to her husband of 48 years, until he unfortunately passed away. The couple had two children together, and both were boys.
“She worked many years in the sewing factory as a seamstress,” Melton said. “She helped to make overalls, hunting clothes, and such for Walls at the time.”
Bundrant began sewing 85 years ago, when her mother let her get a sewing machine. Her mother taught her how to sew from a very young age.
“Our mother was a seamstress, she quilted by hand for years,” Bundrant said. “We had a wonderful mother; she was a hard worker and taught me most everything I know.”
Until around five years ago, Bundrant still pieced together and made quilts. She would still be sewing together the quilt tops today, but she is not able to lift them anymore.
“It’s unbelievable, I do not have any idea how many she has made over the years,” Melton said. Sister-in-law Patsy Melton recalled how Bundrant still has one of her quilts on her bed at the nursing home.
When Bundrant was asked how she feels turning 100 years old, she expressed, “Really and truly, I can’t tell any difference.”
She is aware that she cannot do what she used to do, but that is now her new normal.
“I have had no sick spells, I am not a sick person, and that is why I got to live so long,” Bundrant said. “I try to eat right, and if I gained any weight, I would just try to lose it.”
One of Bundrant’s many hobbies which keeps her active is dancing. She wanted to have a dance party for her 100th birthday and requested it to the Activities Director, Damian Lee.
“It was important to me because a lot of the time our residents tend to lose a sense of identity and independence as they get older,” Lee said. “I wanted to honor Rachel and her life as well as celebrate it, because she deserves that and if it makes her life better for even a moment it was worth it.”
Bundrant’s dance party was held on her birthday where she received a crown and sash to wear, while she danced with staff members and family.
“It had all of us speechless because it’s the little moments like these that make everything we do on a daily basis worth every minute of it,” Lee said.
Photos By Alexandra Meelbusch
