Bellwood hosts huge birthday parade for 95-year-old who beat COVID
BELLWOOD, Ill. - The village of Bellwood hosted a parade for Louise Jenkins, who turned 95-years-old on Thursday.
The birthday parade ran for blocks, down 22nd Avenue, past the Bellwood house that Louise has called home since 1968.
"I feel fine. I don’t feel sick, and I don’t feel old," said Jenkins with a laugh.
"She’s an angel sent here on earth for a serious purpose, and that’s to help people,’ said Louise’s son, Jerry Jenkins.
Louise has 15 children, 41 grandchildren, 109 great-grandchildren and 60 great-great-grandchildren. That comes to a grand total of 225 immediate family members.
"She’s always kept her door open to the community so everybody either calls her Mama Louise or Big Ma," said Louise’s granddaughter, Latoya Woods.
But Louise almost didn’t make it.
Seven months ago she contracted COVID-19, was hospitalized and put on hospice.
"She has a fight. She wants to walk again. She keeps saying, ‘I’m gonna walk again.’ She’s doing very well," said Latoya.
Some might also say she’s the "Matriarch of Bellwood."
Among the first African-American families to move here, she helped raise hundreds of kids in the neighborhood, including Bellwood’s mayor.
"This has always been a safe haven for kids in the community. Big Ma has always treated the kids, everybody, like her kids," said Bellwood Mayor Andre Harvey.
"I made it. I don’t know how I did it, but by the grace of God, he keeps me focused on living and teaching them the right thing to do," said Louise.