 |
|
|
|
Photograph by Jeff Kearns
Teresa Zarevich at 101-years-old reflects on days gone by in the wake of Silicon Valley history.
A life in three centuries
Sunnyvale woman holds the key to a time capsule of memories
By Sam Scott
Teresa Zarevich is unimpressed by having lived in three centuries. 'I don't sit here thinking about it,' the Sunnyvale resident says with laughter in her voice. 'It doesn't bother me.'
Zarevich sits very still in a blue La-Z-Boy chair in her tidy room at Manor Care, an elder-care facility in Sunnyvale. Her hands are folded over a knit blanket. On top of a television, number-shaped candles show her age. She recently celebrated her 101st birthday with her family and friends.
On a wall, two delicately shaded colorings with bright flowers look down. Zarevich was 96-years-old when she did them. Since then, her sight has waned and she is no longer able to color. Nor is she able to read, as she loved to do. But she seems untroubled by her diminishing sight. "It was time, wasn't it?" she says. "I just accepted it."
Zaravich's niece Genevive Luchessi thinks her aunt's calm approach to life is the secret to her longevity.
"She always kept things on a calm level," she says. "She's very positive. I think that's what's kept her alive."
Indeed, Zarevich seems very content with her life then and now. "Wonderful" and "nice" are words she uses often. A "have a nice day" is returned with "We are having a nice day now, aren't we?", said with a smile.
She can still summon a little passion though. When Luchessi asks if her father worried about Europeans during World War I, she responds with energy. "I suppose he would have," she says. "A life is a life."
Zarevich speaks haltingly on questions about the past. She remembers the talking parrot her family used to keep on the farm, but draws a blank on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that collapsed a chimney on a local girl. She can remember her father crying while reading a letter from his mother in Yugoslavia, but not the war which would have so affected that side of her family. She recalls how friendly the workers at the Cupertino General Store were, but not her student who was the first Cupertino resident killed in World War II.
Yet her perception is sharp. She knows that she can't remember. "Things run into each other. I haven't thought about all this in a long, long time" she says, with a gentle smile. "I've forgotten a great deal, no doubt.
It would be a lot for a young mind to remember. When Zarevich was born, William McKinley was president. Zarevich and her family used to attend Mass at Mission Santa Clara in a horse and buggy. Her father bought 16 1/4 acres of prime land in 1904 for $5690.00.
She attended elementary school in a one-room classroom and went to high school in San Jose on the street car. She taught school at Cupertino Union School for 32 years, never married or had children, and retired before most people today were even born.
She has seen so much changed, but suspects the characters have stayed the same.
"I think people are people" she says.
|
|
|
|
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
