Vet uses her noodle(s) to connect with youth

"I love children," said Betty Vet, 85, explaining why she volunteers as a lunchtime teacher's aide at Elsmere Elementary School in Albany.

She has been a "noon aide," as she refers to her job, for "only 21 years," just as long as she has been retired.

"The day after I retired from my position as assistant manager at David's [women's clothing store] in Colonie Shopping Center, I went over to the grade school and volunteered," she told The Evangelist. She did so because she didn't want to sit at home after retirement.

Among the youth

During weekdays, Mrs. Vet spends one hour with fourth graders and another hour with first- and second-graders.

"The children have such a wonderful outlook on life," she said. "They make me laugh each time I am with them. It is such a joy to spend time with them."

Mrs. Vet and her husband raised two children of their own. He passed away 25 years ago, and she stayed on in the family home near St. Margaret Mary's Church in Albany, where she has been a parishioner for more than 50 years.

Surviving

Now a grandmother of five and about to become a great-grandmother, Mrs. Vet is also a breast cancer survivor and has had both of her hips replaced. But she doesn't dwell on those issues.

You have to "take things one day at a time," she said. "I wasn't shocked when I got the news that I had cancer. I was in my fifties and just decided that it wasn't going to keep me from living my life.

"I believed then, as I do now, that whatever happened was the will of God. I decided then that I would leave my health in God's hands."

Noodling around

When she was a "stay-at-home mom," Mrs. Vet did a lot of cooking, using ingredients that included vegetables from her garden, which she still maintains.

"I grow spinach, squash, tomatoes, green and yellow beans, beets, and Swiss chard," she said. She also landscapes all of her property.

Among the items she makes from "scratch" are home-cooked noodles. Mrs. Vet brings her recipe into the classroom so the students can make noodles.

"We have a great time," she said. "It's always a big success. The children love to see how the noodles are cut and to eat what they have made themselves."

Learning at school

"Children can teach us many things, if we let them," Mrs. Vet noted. "We can learn how to stay young at heart, how to laugh freely.

"These days, they have so many rules that they must live by -- at home, on the bus, in the classroom. They even have special noontime rules. I carry a whistle and 'toot toot' it when it is time to go out or come inside.

"Sometimes they have to take a 'time-out' when they have misbehaved. I always explain why. I think it is important for them to know that. But those times are rare, and we have a lot of fun each day. I am enjoying the children and my life."

(Betty Vet's advice to other seniors: "Do volunteer work, be among people. Don't stay at home and look out the window. If you don't want to do volunteer work, look for a part-time job. Do hospice work, arts and crafts with a group, or gardening. Whatever work we choose to do, it is important. Each one of us can make a difference.")

(3/25/04) [[In-content Ad]]