Defying the Decades

102-Year-Old Woman, 27-Year-Old ‘Little’ Still Connect
Posted: September 21, 2013
By EMILY SHARRER
Jamie and RuthBRIDGEWATER — Twenty years ago, 7-year-old Jamie Allman was called into a hallway at Ottobine Elementary School.
The shy second-grader wasn’t completely sure why, but he had a pretty good idea.
“When you went to the hallway, you were in trouble,” Allman said.
But rather than a reprimand, what awaited Allman was a stranger named Ruth Wine, an 82-year-old woman who lived near the school. She would be his new “big” sister through the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County program to help Allman become more open at school.
Photo: Ruth Wine, 102, of Bridgewater, sits with Jamie Allman, 27, of Mount Solon, in Bridgewater on Wednesday. Wine was paired with Allman in 1993 through Big Brother Big Sisters and the two have been friends since. (Photos by Michael Reilly / DN-R)
Two decades and countless adventures later — including Wine’s 100th birthday party, shopping excursions, Allman’s wedding to his wife, Amanda, and the birth of their baby, Mason — he says with certainty that meeting Wine in spring 1993 “turned out to be good trouble.”
Ruth and Jamie HandsOn Wednesday, Wine’s hand never left his as the two sat together on a couch in the Bridgewater home of Wine’s daughter, Gloria Roller, exuberantly calling up the memories of a friendship that, in more ways than one, has reached across decades.
Photo: Big Sister Ruth Wine, 102, of Bridgewater, and her “little brother” Jamie Allman, 27, of Mount Solon, hold hands on Wednesday in Bridgewater as they recall their adventures together.
“I guess I just thought I’d try it and see how it worked out or if I could help,” said Wine, now 102. At the time, the Bridgewater resident was recruited by her sister to join the BBBS mentoring program just starting up at Ottobine.
At that time, only three people had signed on to serve as “bigs.”
“Back then, it wasn’t normal for an 80-year-old woman to pick up a 7-year-old boy and drag him through town everywhere, so she was really special,” said Allman, who now lives in Mount Solon. “My mom, [Sherry Michael], used to say when I was little that there was no other woman on this earth like Ruth Wine. She said Ruth was a special lady and she was the only other person other than her and family members who can take me from the house.”
The match between the two was strategic, said Lisa Stefancin, who was working as a BBBS volunteer coordinator and helped make the connection.
“At 82, you don’t want to necessarily match up with somebody who has a behavior problem,” she said. “Then there comes sweet Jamie. And the rest is history.”
Through second, third, fourth and fifth grades, Wine came every Wednesday to meet with Jamie. The two often spent time outside school, purchasing fabric for the latest craft project, visiting the Dayton Farmers Market, reading to each other on rainy days or grabbing a bite to eat.
“No matter what we did, we always went out and ate first,” Allman recalled, adding that the two became “regulars” at their most visited eatery, Country Cookin’.
Ruth and Jamie GloriaFrom the beginning, the two just clicked, they say, sharing a similar sense of humor and seemingly a slight sense of adventure.
Photo: Ruth Wine’s daughter Gloria Roller, who lives with her mother in Bridgewater, sat with Wine and Jamie Allman as they called up the memories of a friendship that, in more ways than one, has reached across decades.
One of the pair’s fondest memories came one snowy night 15 years ago when they made a late night trip to Walmart to do some Christmas shopping.
Recounting the tale, the two share a laugh after nearly every sentence, recalling the details of the risky escapade.
Allman’s mother almost didn’t let the duo venture out into the snow and ice to hunt for gifts.
“She couldn’t stop us,” Wine said. “He got me by the hand and led me. … We had no business out that night but we had decided to go and we couldn’t help it if it got slick; we couldn’t help the weather. I bet your mother was glad to see us back that evening.”
After fifth grade, the match officially ended.
“She told me that she was so upset that she wasn’t going to come see me at the middle school and she gave me her phone number on a piece of paper and told me we could keep in touch,” Allman said.
Through Christmas and birthday cards, phone calls and visits, the two have done just that.
“This one’s just been one of the longer lasting friendships and I think that part of the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters is forming long-lasting relationships that will change children forever,” Stefancin said. “[Ruth] planted a seed 20 years ago and I think it’s still growing.”
Though the visits have become more sporadic in recent years, Wine and Allman are almost always there for every big event in the other person’s life.
The last couple of times that the two have seen each other have been surprises, like when he was a special guest at a lunch or when she caught a ride to see Allman give testimony in his church.
“I don’t know hardly how to express it,” said Wine, who has a family that includes many grandchildren of her own. “I just kind of felt that he was — maybe not my own — but I needed my boy.
“I would have [my] family in and I said I must call Jamie and see if he can come, too. He just felt like [family] and I still feel that way toward him; that he’s one of us.”
Contact Emily Sharrer at 574-6286 or [email protected]