The conversation between Ian Emile Paradis and Anna Beachler covered a 99-year gap.

Beachler was invited to celebrate her 100th birthday at 1-year-old Ian's birthday party.

"We are a couple of special people on Homewood Road, aren't we?" Beachler said.

Ian said, "Bloooo" as he stared at the candle on his cake.

"I think this is a very important day," Beachler said.

Ian said: "Dada."

Anna Beachler and Ian Emile Paradis celebrated their birthdays together, with Ian's mother, Jennifer, right. (Family photo) | ZOOM |

Ian is the son of Ian and Jennifer Paradis. They live in the house on Homewood Road in Mariemont, where Beachler lived before she moved to Mercy St. Theresa Center.

Beachler had other celebrations at the center that included some relatives - sister Mary Miller ofMilford and Dennis and Carol Ann Barnes (her niece) of Price, Utah - and about 150 other guests.

"When I called her and asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she told me to bring her some White Castles," said Miller, 87.Miller, an Enquirer Woman of the Year in 1992, has lived in Cincinnati since 1905. She loves it more than any other city she has known, especially the hills, the chili, the Cincinnati Reds and the city's natural beauty.

"When I first set foot here, I told my parents 'You'll never get me out of here,' " she said.

Baseball is her favorite sport, and the image of the Big Red Machine is etched in her memory.

"I am having fun, seeing the Reds beat the Yankees," she said.

"Johnny Bench is my favorite player."

Beachler takes her 100 years in stride, complaining a little that she can't do all the things she wants to.

She still lives an active life, playing bridge, bingo and euchre.

She is the oldest of eight children.

She said she watched a recent television program when Bob Hope turned 100.

"I wanted to see what a 100-year-old acts like," she said.

She was married to Bob Beachler, a supervisor at the Container Corp. They had two children: Bob of Anderson Township and Mary Ann Powers of Villa Hills.

Beachler talks about her pleasant surrounding on Homewood Road.

"I lived between two doctors and a nurse," she said.

She said retired nurse Mary K. Sheehy looked after her.

"She picked me up off the floor many, many times," Beachler said.

Sheehy said they set up a system so that Beachler would turn on lights at her house at night and turn them off in the morning.

"If we saw the lights still on in the morning, we knew to check on her," Sheehy said.

"She also had a whistle to blow if anything went wrong."

Allen Howard's "Some Good News" column runs Sunday-Friday.

If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at 768-8362, at ahoward@enquirer.com or by fax at 768-8340.