A Place Where You're Accepted
At 100 years old, Ms. Browder Snelling defines home as more than a structure. Home is belonging and memory. “Home is a place to live. A place where you're accepted. A place where you have good memories,” she says. For Ms. Browder Snelling, the most meaningful home was the farmhouse where she spent her childhood alongside her sister. She remembers walking to Beulah Elementary just down the road. Even after years of moving with her husband’s ministry across Virginia, and a second marriage that briefly brought her to Kilmarnock, she found her way back to that same community. Home, for Ms. Browder Snelling, has always been Virginia.
Lifelong habits of faith, family, and reading make Ms. Browder Snelling strong, she says. Church has been a constant, excluding a period during World War II when she often had to work six days a week. Ms. Browder Snelling’s love of books has persisted since elementary school. Today she loves romantic mysteries.
Each phase of her life has held special meaning for her: school, marriage, raising three children, and now a growing circle of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. These layers of life have unfolded with care and connection, grounding Ms. Browder Snelling through change.
Today, she says she hopes to stay healthy enough to care for herself and remain in her home. But she needs community support and services. Help with chores, yardwork, and transportation to exercise classes would let Ms. Browder Snelling continue to flourish in her home.
Full transcript (currently undergoing revision)