Lady, 91, Can’t Afford to Retire & Care for Great-Grandchildren, Receives $80K to Fulfill Her Dream

A 91-year-old woman recently had all her dreams come true when she could finally care for her great-grandchildren as she always wanted. Before that, she was left feeling desperate.

Betty Glover has been a bag packer at a WinCo store in Medford, Oregon, since she was 81. Although she enjoys her job and has a great relationship with her co-workers, she no longer wants to work.

Glover is tired and has been eager to slow down since she turned 90 last year. However, her circumstances would not allow her to retire from her job, which helped support her and her family over the years.

Glover revealed that being a great-grandmother and still packing groceries had taken its toll on her. Although she loved her job, she felt it was time to retire for good. This was finally possible for her this year.

Betty Glover Worked All Her Life

Glover has worked throughout her life and helped support her family anytime they needed it. But recently she realized she would rather be there to enjoy special moments with them as they happened. She shared:

"I'm used to working, and I hate the thought of not working, but then I decided that I would like to enjoy my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren. I've even got a great-great-grandchild."

Glover said her legs had started to give out, and although she loved seeing her regular customers watching their families grow and being a part of their lives, she knew she could not go on.

The 91-year-old told her co-workers about her thoughts of retiring, but that she was afraid if she didn't work, she would not be able to pay off all the expenses she still had to her name. That's when one of her co-workers made a helpful suggestion.

Glover's co-worker told her she should start a GoFundMe page where people could donate money so she had enough to pay off all her expenses and live comfortably for the rest of her life.

While Glover had not thought of the crowdfunding route, she realized it was a great idea and with the help of her granddaughter, she set her page up. She mentioned she needed to retire because her eyesight was failing because of macular degeneration.

She also revealed she needed to pay off her trailer home and confirmed that if she could raise a set amount of money on her GoFundMe page, she would have enough to pay for the trailer, buy groceries, and cover all the medication she was on.

After listing all of the things the money would help her do and why she wanted to call it quits on her career, Glover added:

"Anything you can do to help would be much appreciated."

Glover was lucky because many community members, regular customers, fellow employees, and strangers donated money to her cause. With all the little bits she received from all corners, she has raised over $80,000 to date.

She was overwhelmed by the amount and said she never even expected to raise her original goal of $40,000 and said: "It really is heartwarming. It makes me want to cry." The money was more than Glover could ever have dreamed of.

Now, Glover has time to watch the youngest members of her family grow up, which is what she has always thought of doing. She regrets not being around to see her children grow up because she was working and wants to change that with her great-great-grandchildren.

Although Glover is in her 90s, she is still excited about her life. She readily revealed, "I don't sit around and think about dying. I think about living."

Social Media Users Are Happy for Betty Glover

While Glover found it heartwarming that so many people donated to her cause and allowed her to retire and enjoy her family, there are many people worldwide who share the same sentiments and are happy for her.

Most comments were complimentary and praised those who helped Glover. However, some were confused by the fact that Glover's family couldn't help her retire from her job.

One commenter said that with all the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren Glover had, they should be able to pay all her expenses off and retire her. The commenter added: "They would get their money back eventually anyway."

However, the other comments on the post were much more positive and loving. Most people wished Glover well and told her how glad they were for her that she could retire and enjoy her family.

One woman said she didn't feel it was fair that Glover had to work for so long. She was glad the old woman could finally hang up her gloves and move on to relaxing and being around her family, which is essential.

Another commenter said it was "terrible" that Glover was still working at 90 and thought it should be normalized for people to retire at 70 and begin enjoying their lives free from job constraints. However, the same commenter acknowledged that worrying about paying bills played a large part in why people worked for as long as they did.

A woman also shared her own story of an encounter she had recently had with an older woman who was still working cleaning a shopping center. She lamented:

"I felt so sad for her, 78 and cleaning tables. As we spoke, she said that she wished she didn't have to work as she was holding back tears."

There were also those who related to Glover's story on a deeply personal level because they were going through the same thing. One commenter said they could relate because they were still working at 80.

Some commenters said it was admirable that Glover had worked for so long and was still optimistic about life and seeing the beauty in each new day.

Glover is not the only one who has used crowdfunding to live a better life. Read another crowdfunding success story here.