What Popcorn and an 80-Year-Old Woman Taught Me About Work and Life

04 Jun 2026 #wellness

“You have to take care of yourself when you’re still young,” she told me.

I was walking around a shopping mall with my sister. We stopped at a popcorn cart for a healthy snack. I asked for one bag of popcorn with a tiny bit of salt. Your heart and kidneys don’t like salty food.

“You know, I just turned 80 last month and I did take care of myself,” she told me while serving a brown paper bag of popcorn.

I couldn’t help but react in surprise: “80!?” She had makeup on and was wearing golden earrings and heels. “You look like you’re still 60,” I told her.

“I’m already a grandmother and great-grandmother,” she said while receiving my money. “One of my sons was a soccer player. Maybe you know him.” She said a name but it didn’t ring a bell. I’m not a big fan of soccer, but I still asked her what team he played.

“He played in Russia. He already passed away…His son used to play too.” She held the change and kept talking. “His son bought me a house and a car. The other day he asked me how much I make here.” His grandson wanted her to stop working.

At 19, after losing her parents, she had to raise six siblings.

“I think it was cancer. My mom stayed in bed for months,” she started to get tears in her eyes. “My mom asked me not to let my siblings disperse. The last one was only 6. He’s now 60. She told me I was the only one who could take care of them.”

Four days after her promise, her mom passed away. A couple of months later, her dad followed. And even after sixty years, she was still touched.

Lesson: You will never get over losing a loved ones. You only get used to them not being around.

“Here I talk to clients…I have to get up and sit down. That’s exercise…If I stay at home, it’d be from my bedroom to the front door. I wouldn’t even dress up,” she said. “I told my grandson, if I stop working, it’ll hurt everywhere and I’ll get sick. Then in a few months, you’ll get a call saying I’m dead.”

Then she finally gave me the chance. I congratulated her for her 80th birthday and said thanks.

“I want to turn 80 and be just like her,” my sister told me.

Lesson: Work gives you more than money. It gives purpose and keeps you alive.

Writing this now, I realized she never told me what she did to stay in shape. She never told me how much she makes either. Maybe one day, over another bag of popcorn, she’ll share both secrets.