Campaign: Elderly Portaits Austin, Texas: MARY MARCHANT, 92

I grew up in Kansas, and our landlady was a Christian Scientist; she taught me everything I know about how to act with people you don’t know. I learned how to be a lady from her.  

When my husband Harold was in the service and after, we moved around a lot, so that came in handy. After WWII we were living in Japan, he worked at a hospital unit there. One night my friend went to her room and saw shadows moving, and ran out screaming, thinking that a Japanese soldier was in her room. It was a false scare, but it was tense. What I’ve learned about life is to get educated in what you’ve chosen to do, and to persevere, no matter what.