Still smiling after all these years
<p>Emil & Lenore Johnson, residents of The Courtyard Assisted Living, are both celebrating birthdays this week. Emil turns 100 today and, although it is unclear of Lenore's exact age, she is between 104 and 106, which fell on February 11.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Out for a drive with relatives Monday, the first person in the car to spot the deer was Emil Johnson.
Playing cribbage that same day, Emil was the big winner.
And that afternoon, sitting down for lunch with family, Emil polished off a Hudson's hamburger in his room at the Courtyard Assisted Living.
It was a busy day for the Coeur d'Alene man, who got an early start on celebrating his 100th birthday, today.
"Yeah, I'm too old," he said, grinning.
His wife has him beat.
Lenore Johnson turned 105, or maybe 106, family members weren't quite sure, on Feb. 11.
Either way, she's still sassy.
"They stick, so I couldn't very well refuse," she said when asked how she enjoyed her latest birthday.
When Emil was asked about his secrets to leading a long, happy life, Lenore quickly chimed in, "None of your business," at which everyone laughed.
Family and friends of Emil and Lenore are gathering today to honor the couple and their more than 200 years combined on God's green Earth.
"They take care of each together," said relative Bob Dayton. "I think that's why they're so strong together. They have that bond. It's pretty amazing."
Lenore came to Idaho viaOregon and was born in Oklahoma. Her mother was widowed early and raised Lenore and her five brothers and sister on her own.
"Their financial situation did nothing to deter Lenore's love of reading, a love that remains steadfast to this day, on any given day Lenore can be heard quoting poetry," said a press release.
Emil came to Idaho from Spokane at the turn of the century when his parents bought a place in Cougar Gulch in 1917, where they cleared the land by hand.
As a young man he relocated to Oregon where he worked for the state highway department for more than 30 years. He was responsible for plowing roads in the winter and keeping them in order the rest of the year.
Emil and Lenore had been friends since the 1930s before exchanging vows 26 years ago when they were both widowed.
They lived in a small house on Third and Walnut in Coeur d'Alene, and loved square dancing and gardening. They moved into Courtyard last year "to have some help with the cooking."
Emil shrugged when asked what advice he would offer to others, what he might encourage others to do.
"Oh, I don't know," he said. "Work hard and so forth."
He has always been healthy, which in turn, makes him happy.
"I never have been sick to amount to anything. I'm pretty good, so that helps," he said.
"It's probably all the hard work he did when he was young, farming, living off the land, all the finishing he did around here," Bob Dayton said.
"Yeah, that's it," Emil said, nodding.
He loves to walk, but in the cold months, he sticks mostly to inside the hallways of The Courtyard.
"I don't walk as good as I did. I kind of lose my balance," he said. "But I get around."
Emil didn't request any birthday gifts, saying he has all he needs.
"Can't use nothing, anyway," he said.
Gary Egbert of Manchester, Mich., said his mother and father divorced when he was young, and it was Emil who helped him through those rough moments.
The two went fishing and spent some weekends together, in Meacham, Ore. Through the years, he knew he could count on Emil.
"He was like a father figure to me growing up," Egbert said.
Today's party, he said, is a celebration of the birthdays of two great people, a time to honor their marriage, and for Egbert, a chance to say thanks to Emil, too.
"He's just been an amazing individual."