Not quite a native Ripley Countian - she attended only her last year of high school in Doniphan though she taught in the R-1 system for 32 years - Teresa (Pearson) Lee delights in surprising readers and herself with anecdotal observations of life in general. Maybe you can blame her St.Louis roots for a quirky humor and some slightly-askewed opinions, but never doubt she writes from the heart.

Spunky Old Broads

Posted Thursday, February 25, 2021, at 2:48 AM

It’s February so you can call me an SOB. Had I known a special day was allocated for SOB’s - the first day of February - I would have been more prepared and kicked off SOB month in grand SOB style. I might lack one qualification to be a Spunky Old Broad of the caliber of 99-year-old Iris Apfel since I am only…well, I’m not THAT old...but one can have aspirations. Past Spunky Old Broads of the Year have included Cloris Leachman, Dolly Parton and Katie Couric. Hmm. Maybe I have a bit more aspiring to do beyond just tacking on a few years to be a genuine SOB.

This isn't a far-out sounding celebration that is simply the result of a bored broad searching for a reason to dress up for a gal’s night out in great company. It has a real inventor, a lady named Dr. Gayle Carson. She trademarked it in 2002. "I started it because I found that once a woman hit 50, she was almost invisible and as a woman who keeps reinventing herself and is very active in business, media etc, I wanted to acknowledge that is not the truth.” She is an entrepreneur, consultant, life coach specializing in women’s issues, a speaker and an author.

Let’s stop a moment and clear up the definition of ‘broad’ as it is used here. Because vocabulary is ever-evolving, the term has gone way beyond the derogatory meaning it once had to now exemplify feisty ladies who push to get as much out of life as possible regardless of circumstances. They live with spirit, humor and optimism. Betty White, Lucille Ball and Bette Midler come to mind as ones who embody the SOB persona. Fame is not a prerequisite, though. Mommas and grandmas, sisters and aunts, colleagues and pals can fit right in with the rich and famous SOB’s.

SOB’s are the movers and shakers in their arenas. They don’t dream dreams; they live them while motivating others to boldly live their own. We in Ripley County are fortunate to have loving, visionary women impacting our communities in grand ways. Not all of them have hit the 50-year mark. Grand SOB’s in-the-making with grand SOB's to model!