‘Keep breathing’ – Suzanne Goodell celebrates 100th birthday

DECATUR, Ga. (Decaturish) - Suzanne Goodell celebrated her 100th birthday at the Decatur Recreation Center on Wednesday, Oct. 11, with a nice workout and some love from her classmates and instructor Bobbie Elzey.

“Suzanne is an enthusiastic person who always looks for the good things, and she always has a smile on her face,” Elzey said. “She has exercised with me for years. She’s just delightful.”

According to the news outlet Decaturish, Goodell said her advice for living a long life is “keep breathing.”

Classmate Susan Weitman said Goodell is her inspiration.

“She sits next to me most days. She’s happy, cheery,” Weitman said. “I believe that’s part of why she’s a hundred years old. She’s the most positive individual and I truly love her. Happy Birthday, Suzanne.”

“We’ve enjoyed having Suzanne in our class. She’s a mainstay,” Terry Bird, another classmate, said. “I really had no idea she was 100 years old until we were told.”

Clark Lemons said, “I asked Suzanne one time how can you do all these exercises. You do every single one, and she said well you know, I was born limber, and I’ve just stayed limber all this time. It’s amazing because she’s one of the strongest, most limber people in our class, and we love her.”

“I sit close to Suzanna a lot too, and one day I noticed that she was using 4-pound weights,” Pat Stark said. “I was only using 3-pound weights. I said I need to step up my game here! And the other thing I love about her is she’ll wear really cute things, like a tropical Hawaiian shirt, she’ll have on matching socks, she’ll have on a little hat, and she’s always cheerful.”

“The point is that I am positive in my own mind that a class of exercise is a great thing for everybody and especially for us as we age,” Goodell said.