93 Years of Care
Follow nonagenarian Hazel Sorrell through this photo story on a trip to the NC State Fair and learn about how she has spent her life caring for others, from her eight children to victims of Hurricane Floyd to her prized lipstick plant.
Hazel G. Sorrell, 93, has spent her life as a caregiver. Raising her eight children was just the beginning—she went on to win NC Mother of the Year in 1986, converted her house into a children’s home from 1994–2004, and assisted victims of Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Here, she shows the latest recipient of her care—her lipstick plant—to fellow residents of Brighton Gardens in Raleigh, NC in 2009.
With her daughter Kay (left), Hazel brings her lipstick plant to the NC State Fair to enter it in the “Most Unusual” category of the Flower and Garden Show. She has cared for the plant, named for its red, tube-shaped flowers, for two years and keeps it in the window of her Brighton Gardens apartment.
Hazel takes a moment to arrange and say goodbye to her plant before leaving it in the greenhouse for the Flower and Garden Show. “You make sure you don’t over-water it,” she said to the fair officials after completing her entry tag.
Ten days later, Hazel returns to the fair and tries a few spins on her rented scooter on the way to the greenhouse. A man recognized her and hugged her on the midway. “I don’t know who that was,” Hazel said after he left. Family members accompanying Hazel thought it might be a former student from her 36 years of teaching elementary school in Coats and Benson, NC.
Hazel’s age does not hinder her independence or her desire to care for others. She was 84 when she helped victims of Hurricane Floyd by volunteering as the director of the Wilson Interfaith Recovery Center. Nearly 10 years later at the fair, she reminded her family that she had not stopped driving her car until the age of 92, and enjoyed the chance to drive again on a rented scooter.
In the greenhouse, Hazel discovers that her lipstick plant has won second prize in its category. Her red ribbon is another in a long list of awards and achievements that prove how much she cares about others. In addition to her 1986 Mother of the Year award, Hazel was named NC’s Retired Educator of the Year in 1997 and a Johnston County Schools Living Legend in 2008.
Hazel admires her prize-winning lipstick plant at the Flower and Garden Show, the highlight of her trip to the fair. Her attentive nurturing demonstrates her strength as a caregiver—for both plants and people. “I just like to help people,” Hazel said. “God’s given me the strength and I believe I should be doing something.”
