Sylvia & Me
Sylvia & Me
Persis Laverack: 93 Year Old Icon, Senior Citizen Cheerleader, Teacher, Writer, Entrepreneur, Communicator, Globe Trotting Mom & Grandmother
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Meet Persis … She just turned 93!

She’s taking her daily 2 mile walk!  Persis drives her new 2020 pearl white Subaru to wherever she wants to go, pops the hatchback, pulls out her walker and off she goes!

Persis is a woman who keeps busy. She defies the myths  – she’s on social media, she texts and she Zooms. And yes – there’s the 2 mile daily walks. These days she does divide them into two 1 mile walks, morning and afternoon. Her knee replacement less than two years ago slowed her down just a little. Or so she says.

We talked about how Covid has changed her life and how she makes sure to stay positive and engaged. Persis saw how so many single women in her retirement village appeared to be depressed during the three months that they were quarantined. She made it a point to reach out to them, to let them know that they were not alone.

To pass some of the time, Persis was on Facebook tracking down old friends and acquaintances. If they were no longer around, she found their relatives and delighted them with stories that she shared. In either case, they laughed, they cried and they connected. Persis keeps in touch with them, it’s never a one-off. You’ll hear how she tracked down one after a month long search. Because of her perseverance, she now has a new friend in Arizona.

Persis and her late husband Bill started Appplewild, an Independent elementary day school in Massachusetts. Persis taught in the Newtown Massachusetts public schools, the Chapin School in New York City and was the Director of Admissions at the Windsor School in Boston, A graduate of Vassar College, Persis is the proud mom of Liz, a physician in Maine, Bill, a venture capitalist in Florida and Tom, Director of Financial Operations at a NYC non-profit. And let’s not forget that she is grandmother to seven.