The picture of a 101-year-old Arizona woman cradling her new-born great-granddaughter spanned four ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴs of the same the family in one photograph and captured the hearts of millions.
The photo initially was posted by Camfield’s granddaughter Sarah Hamm, who was sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ to learn it was being shared by millions across the Internet. Hamm,33 said: “Grandma was always happy, I mean, she was smart as ᴀ ᴡʜɪᴘ, even at 101. She was funny and had lots of stories. She ᴘᴀssᴇᴅ ᴀᴡᴀʏ last night, so this was very ʙɪᴛᴛᴇʀsᴡᴇᴇᴛ. The photo was taken by me of my daughter Kaylee when she was 2 weeks old. It was actually the day she was being ʀᴇʟᴇᴀsᴇᴅ in the ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ, so we were hoping that Grandma would get to meet her.” Hamm of Gilbert posted the photo on St. Patrick’s Day of her grandmother and now-3-week-old newborn to share with Facebook friends.Two days later, she was notified that the picture was being circulated around the Web . But behind every picture is a story and Rosa’s is every bit as inspirational as the photograph that captivated the Internet. She detailed her grandmother’s life from ᴛᴜᴍᴜʟᴛᴜᴏᴜs ʏᴏᴜᴛʜ in the Dᴇᴘʀᴇssɪᴏɴ ᴇʀᴀ, to a ᴅɪFFɪᴄᴜʟᴛ ᴅɪᴠᴏʀᴄᴇ in the 1950s and all the way to her third marriage to her childhood sweetheart in her 80s. Rosa had three children, five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Hamm said :” It was actually the day she was being ʀᴇʟᴇᴀsᴇᴅ in the ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ, so we were hoping that Grandma would get to meet her. When I posted it I thought a few of our fans would feel connected to it as I did. Then, within an hour, it was clear that I had underestimated the impact it would have with people as it was shared and liked hundreds of times per minute,”
She said:” I think its really sweet. My grandma would’ve loved this.” Like the few who make it to ʟɪᴠᴇ ᴘᴀsᴛ 100, Rosa Camfield had a lifetime worth of stories that her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren remember well. Rosa’s youngest daughter Lynn Vine, says her mother was born on a fruit farm in Michigan in 1913. Rosa’s family appears to have been relatively well off before and during the Gʀᴇᴀᴛ Dᴇᴘʀᴇssɪᴏɴ. Her father was the first one in their town to have both a radio and a car, using it to bring locals to their home for nightly entertainment. Vine remembers:”Grandpa was the one who liked to have new things and he was quite progressive so they always had the first of everything. Vine says her mother ʟɪᴠᴇᴅ in ᴀ ᴛɪᴍᴇ when kids still attended school in a one-room schoolhouse where children of all ages were taught by the same teacher. One year she was the only kindergartener the class. While Rosa wanted to go to college after school, her dad advised her not to. Because we have plenty of money.”
Rosa went on to marry her first of three husbands in the mid-1930s, a man named Rubin with whom she had all of her three children. While the couple were married, Wᴏʀʟᴅ Wᴀʀ II ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ and the couple helped out by sᴘᴏᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴘʟᴀɴᴇs. Unfortunately the marriage didn’t last, and the couple divorced after about 15 years. It was after her divorce that Rosa decided to go back to college while raising her three children in her 40s and get her degree in teaching. Rosa married twice more. Her second husband, Mert, ᴅɪᴇᴅ in the mid-1980s and she married for a third time, to her childhood best friend, Lennis Camfield, a few years later. In November she was ᴅɪᴀɢɴᴏsᴇᴅ with ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ, but remained active even in her Fɪɴᴀʟ ᴅᴀʏs – continuing to crochet and knit until about two weeks ago. Vine remembers of her mother. “Put a smile on your face, and things will be better the next day.”
