| Kit Abrahamson, 101
Katherine, “Kit,” Abrahamson turned 101
on March 5, 2008. The lifelong Gloucester,
Mass., resident celebrated with a party at
Miss Tina’s Dance Studio following a
practice session of the Cape Ann Seniorettes
for an upcoming annual recital. Kit took up
dancing when she turned 80, at a time when
most people are thinking of slowing down.
Her favorite dance is tap, but the group
specializes in line dancing. Kit believes
the twice-weekly dance lessons over two
decades have kept her agile and healthy –
and certainly happier.
An unassuming, petite woman from a
large close-knit Irish family, Kit is one of
14 children. Her youngest brother, Joe, is
still very active at age 89 and frequently
drives from New Hampshire to visit. Kit
lives in the same neighborhood where she and
her husband moved after they were married.
She regularly attends Holy Family church
where all of the important events of her
life were celebrated. Kit credits her
religion and her family, including four
grandchildren and four great grandchildren,
for her longevity.
The tragedy in Kit’s life came
with the sudden death of her husband when
her girls were only eight and ten. “I had
to raise them alone,” Kit tells, sadly.
Remarriage was out of the question: “I had
the best husband, I wouldn’t want another.”
Kit went to work as a nurse’s aid in a local hospital to support
her daughters and herself. Later she took a
clerical job at the unemployment office in
Gloucester. At age 60, she took the state
civil service exam and went to work at the
statehouse in Boston, commuting an hour each
way by train. Kit retired at the age of 71,
when her third grandchild was born, to help
with the grandkids.
Kit was scheduled to be interviewed by Barbara Walters in New
York City last September, but at the last
minute she became ill and had to withdraw.
She is planning on traveling to Florida with
her daughter, granddaughter and great
granddaughter, her namesake, called Katie.
All will attend Katie’s dance group, also
from Miss Tina’s dance studio, as they
perform at Disneyworld in October. Will she
take her dancing shoes? “Probably,” Kit
says with a sly smile.
It was a real treat last June (when
a film crew from ABC came to follow Kit) to
see Kit and Katie doing a line dance
together. Kit has been and continues to be
an inspiration to family and friends, and a
pleasure to know.
Click for more
photos of Kit, plus a story from The
Gloucester Daily Time on next page. >> |
