More than 1 million adults find community in senior centers across America. John Host is one of them, and his story continues to amaze everyone who meets him.
Host, a 92-year-old Alabama native and mathematical genius, attends the Hueytown Seniors Center. Though he can only see out of one eye and is hard of hearing, he is sharp mentally.
John’s intellect, and really his life, can only be described as a miracle.
When he was six years old, John had scarlet fever. Not long after, he had double pneumonia. Both affected his time at school.
Then when John was in sixth grade, he had an accident. He hit a pipe in the basement and fractured his skull. His health deteriorated after that.
Emergency
“I went to a doctor who finally said it was appendicitis. He took my appendix out. I kept losing weight and got down to about 50 pounds. My dad asked me if I would drink some coffee. An hour later I was unconscious.”
His parents rushed him to the hospital in Florence, where he stayed a couple of days before another doctor sent him to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
On the way there, the ambulance broke down in front of a farmhouse. It was 1943 and few homes had phones but that one did. They called another ambulance to take John the rest of the way.
John’s condition was so serious that after the ambulance was repaired, the drivers went on to Vanderbilt, thinking they would need to bring home John’s corpse. They were amazed to see he was alive.
Recovery
He was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, a severe skull infection, and they took out his full frontal bone. Bone grafts, “drinking a lot of milk” and skin grafts repaired most of the damage, but there’s still a small area that has no bone where John’s pulse can be seen.
Throughout those challenging years, John’s faith was already in Christ. He accepted Jesus as his Savior at 8 years old. As a young adult, John was married at Dolomite Baptist Church in Hueytown and attended there until it recently had to close its doors. He was a deacon for decades before the closure. He has also been head of the Sunday School and director of Training Union.
“I love teaching children. That was one of the main jobs I had, and I really was good at that,” John said.
However, in his new church, Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in Hueytown, John has decided that he “won’t ask for a deacon role.”
“I’m a fairly inactive deacon now,” he said, laughing.
Helping
Serving others is in John’s nature. When he started going to the senior center in 1997, he gave more than he took. He would help do the dishes, fix the food and keep track of things there.
“I didn’t mind doing that. It’s just something else I could help do,” John said.
He and his son, John Mark Host, credit the senior center for being a big part of why he is still doing so well.
“Too many people, as they get older, they get withdrawn and don’t have contact with others. That’s not a good thing because they get so isolated. It’s very limiting. It’s very helpful to get out there and communicate, find out what’s going on in the world and society and friends and family,” John Mark said.
Tami Smith, manager of the Hueytown Seniors Center, agrees.
“There are huge benefits for John at the senior center; he’s been coming every day for 30 years. It’s truly amazing. He has a community of friends who love him and enjoy spending time with him. The social interaction with other people — playing games, laughing, listening to music and sharing a meal — is wonderful,” she said.
Gratitude
John spends plenty of time having fun and socializing with his friends at the center. He used to play cards but due to losing some of his eyesight, he now mostly plays dominoes, a game he says he is “pretty good at.” His friends, he said, “agree I’m pretty good.”
“He is practically unbeatable in dominoes,” Smith said. “His opponents call themselves his domino victims.”
John’s extraordinary math ability could be one reason he dominates at dominos. He is able to do complicated multiplication computations in his head and can produce answers with more digits than a calculator. He is still learning new tricks, such as how to multiply any two numbers with all ones.
John’s talent is amazing, but so is his heart for God and others, Smith said. When she thinks of John, she said she is reminded of Psalm 15. John’s generosity, service and encouragement especially stand out, she said.
“John has an ‘attitude of gratitude.’ He is thankful for even the smallest things and he never complains. I have never heard him utter an unkind word,” she said. “Even though his vision is limited, he is willing to venture out on field trips, exercise and play bingo with his extra-large bingo card. Nothing holds him back; he just goes with the flow.
“Coming to the senior center has been great for John, and we benefit even more from him being there,” Smith continued. “He’s an honorable, generous man and a wonderful example to all of us.”
Want to see John Host’s math skills in action? Watch the video below.
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