9 February 2013

jubilarian

[joo-buh-LAIR-ee-uhn]

noun:

A person who celebrates or has celebrated a jubilee, as a nun observing 25 or more years of religious life.

To enable the school to open in 1916, Sisters Agnes Geraghty and Corona Hargrafen, golden jubilarians, had come out of retirement, and Sister Juliana Kritenbrink, another golden jubilarian, joined them the next year.
— O. P. Dolores Enderle, Suzanne Noffke, The Dominicans of Racine, Wisconsin

The crowd was so great that when the doors were closed at a late hour to relieve the strain on the seventy-two-year-old jubilarian, a line of people still reached around the south and west sides of the Square.
— Patrick Ryan, Archbishop Patrick John Ryan His Life and Times

In Biblical tradition, the jubilee is a yearlong celebration which occurs every 50 years. All debts are forgiven and lands returned to their original owners. Today jubilees are often celebrations of significant anniversaries, particularly every 25, 50, 60 or 75 years. Jubliarian refers to anyone who has or is celebrating a significant 25-year milestone.

Today’s aphorism

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.

– Alice Walker

On this day

9 February 1944 – birth of Alice Walker, American author, poet and activist. She grew up in the America’s deep south, under the notorious ‘Jim Crow’ laws which segrated whites and blacks. She has since written numerous books, including the Pulitzer Award winning ‘The Color Purple’ which addressed much of the issues facing society in Georgia in the 1930s.

9 February 1981 – death of Bill Haley, who arguably had the world’s first ever rock’n’roll song, ‘Rock Around the Clock’. He was born 6 July 1925.

9 February 1997 – death of Brian Connolly, Scottish rocker, lead singer of Sweet (Fox on the Run, Ballroom Blitz, Teenage Rampage, Action). Born 5 October 1945.