Verbena Donati with her dog Lucky at the Promenade Retirement Community. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO

Verbena Donati has seen a lot in her life. Born in San Cassiano, Italy in 1924, she grew up in her native country through the Depression and World War II.

After the war ended, she married and had two children. She immigrated to Canada in 1960 to be with her husband who had found work as a lab technician in Kitimat, B.C. Shortly after arriving, Verbena started teaching art and languages at the local high school. The couple also had their third child in 1961.

In 1966, they moved across the country to New Brunswick.

After her husband passed away in 1972, Verbena moved to Vancouver with her son Leo to be close to her daughters who had since moved out and started families of their own.

After retiring from teaching in 1979, Verbena married her second husband, Howard Jenkins, in 1986. The couple remained in Vancouver for the next 26 years. In 2012, they moved to Ottawa where Leo was working for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. Mr. Jenkins passed away the following year at the age of 89.

Verbena Donati with her dog Lucky and her children (l to r) Leo, Ileana and Genni. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO

Verbena eventually moved into the Promenade Retirement Community in Orléans where they held a 100th birthday party for her on May 11 surrounded by family, friends and her beloved dog Lucky.

The two most important things in Verbena’s long life have been her family and her art. She has painted and drawn hundreds of pieces over the years and has taught a multitude of students along the way including many of her fellow residents at Promenade. She only stopped painting a few short months ago when her arms became to weak to keep them raised for any length of time.

Verbena’s says her paintings are a transcript of her life. Her inspiration was a product of whatever she was going through or experiencing at the time.

“You can’t keep painting the same thing over and over,” Verbena says. “You have to change things and evolve or else you will get bored.”

Besides being an artist, Verbena is also an author, having recently published her auto-biography, “Unsettled: A memoir”.

According to a description of the book on Amazon, “(Unsettled) weaves the fascinating story of a woman born into a family that is constantly moving, thus incapable of setting down roots. Donati’s lonely Italian childhood gives way to a life in transit, culminating in Canada, a life of joy and disappointments, loyalty and betrayal, intense love and heartbreak.”

As for any advice she would give others seeking to live a long and productive life, Verbena offers this bit of wisdom. “You need to be accepting of whatever happens in your life, especially the bad things,” she confides. “Learn from them and move on without allowing them to consume you.”