When you walk through the doors of Morton Plant Hospital on Tuesday afternoon, you’ll see Mary Ellen Owens at the front desk. She will say hello to you with a smile.

Mary, who is now 98, started volunteering (义务做) at the hospital after her husband (丈夫) died almost 20 years ago.

“My husband was ill in hospital here,” she said. “Everyone at the hospital was so good to us.”

To show her thanks, Mary wanted to give back in a big way. “I don’t have lots of money, but I can give them my time.”

“Once I gave three days a week,” she said. “Now, I’m old, so I don’t get around as much as before. I only give one day a week.”

To get to the hospital, Mary gets a ride from her friend, Richard. “Every Tuesday, Richard picks me up from my home and brings me here,” she said. “I don’t think people of my age should drive.”

In her younger years, Mary almost became a movie star, but things didn’t work out. She turned down the role in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind because she was busy with other things. Does Mary feel sorry for it? No. She says life has given her more than she expected.

Mary has volunteered about 7,000 hours at the hospital and it makes her feel great. She hopes to give people who are ill more hours and smiles.