By JANET McGREGOR
Contributing Writer

Ms. Virginia Arnold is a "walking miracle," according to her doctor. Ten years ago, Arnold was being tube fed and was given 10 days to live. Today, Arnold is the proud winner of the 1999 Southland Beauty Pageant and has a good chance at going on to participate in the Ms. Georgia Nursing Home Pageant.

Arnold, 82, was born in Robertson County, Tenn., where she was an only child.

"I was loved and cherished and had to be a little spoiled, but not spoiled rotten, she said. "I had a good, happy childhood. We didn't have a lot, but we always had food on the table."

The Arnold family lived in Greenbriar, Springfield and Nashville prior to moving to the Atlanta area in 1936. After losing his job as a result of the Depression, Arnold's father moved the family to Atlanta to work with his brother. They lived three miles outside of Jonesboro for a few months with Arnold's aunt and uncle, then moved to Oakland City in Atlanta.

Arnold met her husband Ralph Pierce Arnold on Christmas Eve of 1937, however, they didn't have their first date until Labor Day in 1938. On their first date, they went to Lakewood Park and "rode everything." The couple married before the end of the year. Ralph was the youngest of 10 children.

Ralph's job moved the family to Birmingham, Ala., where they lived for four years. They returned to Georgia to live in Athens, College Park and East Point.

"We lived in three places the airport got all three of them," Arnold said. The airport even claimed the grammar school where Arnold worked.

Arnold says she had three careers in her lifetime. She worked as a secretary, then as a dietician in a grammar school and as wife and mother. The latter was "the most rewarding," Arnold said. She also worked for a short period as a telephone operator after graduating from high school.

She had four children, and currently has 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. She was recently informed that she will soon have the 15th great-grandchild and is anxiously waiting to find out about a possible 16th great-grandchild. All of her family lives in Georgia with the exception of two grandchildren living in North Carolina and Texas.

Arnold is proud of her family saying, "I have a big, sweet loving family which comes to see me and calls often."

Ten years ago Arnold began having some serious health problems. First she suffered with fluid in her lungs. While in the hospital recovering it was discovered she had heart problems and had to have a pacemaker. Later she was back in the hospital with a blood clot in her intestines which resulted in problems with gangrene. Next, she started having problems and couldn't eat and kept falling. It was back into the hospital where she was tube fed and given 10 days to live.

She moved into Springdale Nursing Home during her health problems. By 1991, she had recovered sufficiently to enter her first Ms. Nursing Home Beauty Pageant, which she won. She went on to the state pageant, losing out to Ms. White from Southland Nursing Home.

Shortly after the pageant, she discovered lumps in her breast. She was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently the breast was removed. During the following years, she had two cataract surgeries, had a stomach hernia operated on and suffered four congestive heart failures.

Two years ago, she moved to Southland Nursing Home and is now one of the more active participants in the home's activities.

"The Lord has been good to me and my family," she said. "I thank Him and praise Him for all He has done."

Her positive attitude and faith are evident to all around her. She enjoys the regular Thursday Bible studies and the church services held by various ministers at Southland. Arnold "accepted Christ" when she was 11 years old at a revival. She was baptized in a local creek by the pastor. She has been active in the Baptist Church throughout her life.

Arnold says she is very happy with life, with her family and with Southland Nursing Home.

"I'm happy and I don't have anything to worry about, it's all being taken care of. I like it here at Southland. I like the staff, too."

"The world has changed a lot since I was born," she said. "All the cars and planes. One of the most remarkable things to me was when the astronauts landed on the moon."

Arnold keeps busy. She helps push those in wheelchairs to activities. She reads, works puzzles, plays bingo and Pokeno and participates in sing-a-longs. She is a member of the Dixie Bells Women's Group, which meets twice a month. She also spends a lot of time with her family and goes to visit whenever possible.

Arnold was the first runner up in the 1998 Ms. Southland Nursing Home Beauty Pageant. She said she entered the pageant because she "thought it would be fun." She had to be pushed to enter her first contest in 1991. She was asked three times before she finally decided to give it a try. Being a winner in three out of three pageants is an accomplishment of which anyone would be proud.

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