103-year-old woman sworn in as junior ranger at Grand Canyon

Rose Torphy, who is three years older than the Grand Canyon National Park itself, has become a junior ranger at the spry age of 103. And she has the certificate to prove it.

How did this go down? Torphy was at the Grand Canyon for only the second time in her life when she happened to stop in to the park’s store. "I started talking to people about the junior ranger program because it teaches kids to protect the Canyon," she explained to Good Morning America in an interview. "My parents taught me to care for the land but not all kids have that."

The junior ranger program is a form of educational programming. Potential junior rangers complete an activity book about the national park and are taught new information by store staff. Junior rangers promise to protect the Grand Canyon before they officially become park stewards. (And receive their certificates!)

Speaking to Good Morning America, Alysa Ojeda, marketing and public relations manager for the Grand Canyon Conservancy, noted that they had to "get creative" with programming this January, due to Trump’s partial government shutdown. (The Grand Canyon Conservancy funds the junior ranger program.)

Torphy, who is a mom of three, grandmother of nine, great-grandmother of 18, and great-great grandmother of 10, said, “I'm so happy that someone is watching over it so that my great-great-grandchildren can visit it someday too.”

The world is in a shambles, but Torphy is certainly a bright light in the darkness.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/18/1835749/-103-year-old-woman-sworn-in-as-junior-ranger-at-Grand-Canyon-warms-everybody-s-heart?detail=emaildkre