She's 95 and lives alone. This important organization keeps her life feeling full.
She's still learning every day.
As we get older, sometimes our bodies get a little slower and our physical worlds get a little smaller. But that doesn't mean our minds or our hearts have to do the same.
95-year-old Ruth Bryant is proof of that.
She dedicated her life to helping people learn, teaching kids and adults on two continents — a dedication that earned her a presidential medal for service. Even now, when her life is mostly limited to her home, she's still learning — this time from her Meals on Wheels volunteers.
Ruth was born in Chicago, the youngest of five sisters. By the time she was 12, her mother was widowed and looking for a new place to raise her family.
They hit the road, trading the Windy City for balmy, sunny Santa Monica, California. The ocean breeze, the flowers, the people, the city — everything made them feel welcome. And they never looked back.
Pictured: Heaven, also known as the Santa Monica pier at sunset. Image via Michael Wu/Flickr.
As Ruth grew up in her new hometown, she focused her future on one goal: becoming a teacher.
After all, it's a profession that runs in her family.
Ruth's mom liked to tell her daughters about her time teaching kindergarten through sixth grade to students in a small one-room schoolhouse "in the middle of the country." Like many teachers at the time, she was only 15 — barely an adult herself — and would ride her horse to the schoolhouse to teach.
One day in the middle of lessons, she watched her horse get loose and run away. As any teenager would do in the situation, she ran outside, sat on the stoop, and started to cry. Then, one by one, her students came outside to comfort her until an entire classroom's worth of kids joined her crying on the stoop in solidarity and support.
For Ruth, hearing that story from her mom was the moment she knew she wanted to teach. "That's unconventional and unconditional love," she said. "I knew I wanted to experience that too."
Ruth's dedication to teaching and empowering kids stayed with her through her entire teaching career.
She learned quickly that her philosophy of teaching was a little out of the ordinary. Lectures followed by worksheets followed by tests — that kind of teaching might work for other educators. But Ruth wanted to do things differently.
"My philosophy is that if you have students and you tell them something and they know it, that can be forgotten right away," explained Ruth. "But if you present something in a creative way, they get immersed and they want to be a part of it. It becomes a part of their very being."
Ruth on the phone for this interview. Image by Angel Howe, used with permission.
Her unique, thoughtful, creative way of looking at things helped move her career in fascinating directions. Including Venezuela.
Accepting an invitation from two of her students, Ruth started visiting Venezuela as a volunteer teacher in the early 1970s. She fell in love with the country at first sight. Over the next three decades, she went back every single summer to train teachers in creative ways of educating, earning the nickname the "Teacher of Teachers."
After returning from a summer abroad in the mid-1990s, Ruth learned that she was being considered for an award. Suddenly, she was back on a plane to Venezuela to accept a medal for service from then-President Rafael Caldera and the Minister of Education. "It was a great, great, great honor to me to have a president of a country give me a medal for the work that I'd done in their country, a teacher from California," Ruth recalled.
Ruth's medal from the president of Venezuela. Image by Angel Howe, used with permission.
Though she retired many years ago, Ruth still values teaching — only the tables have turned a little.
Ruth started using Meals on Wheels a few years ago after it became increasingly difficult to leave her home and care for herself. For many of the same reasons she valued her students and fellow teachers, Ruth loves her Meals on Wheels volunteers.
Meals on Wheels, she said, has been an actual lifesaver, helping her stay independent and live in her home. And while she is grateful for the food, it's the community and companionship that she finds truly rewarding.
"I'm hoping that people will understand that the meal that is delivered is good for the body. But Meals on Wheels also delivers food for the soul. They deliver smiles, compassion, companionship."
For Ruth, her experience with her Meals on Wheels volunteers is an extension of her lifelong love of teaching — but she's the student now.
"I learn so much from the people who visit me with Meals on Wheels, about their lives and their stories. We form friendships and real, lasting bonds. This program makes a real difference in people's lives to remind them to keep going on and keep living," she said.
"Ultimately, it's about delivering happiness."
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."