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Joe Newman is 107 years old. He was 5 during the flu pandemic of 1918. Today, he lives in a senior apartment complex in Sarasota, Florida with his fiancé, Anita Sampson. They met 16 years ago. Anita just turned 100 and they had planned a big party, with cake and karaoke. But because of the coronavirus, the party was cancelled. They’re in lockdown. As part of our new series, Hunker Down Diaries, we sent them a recorder and they interviewed each other on Anita’s 100th birthday. 

You can find a TRANSCRIPT of this story here. 

This story originally aired on NPR’s All Things Considered as part of our Hunker Down Diaries series, you can listen to all 7 stories here. Image of Joe Newman and Anita Sampson, courtesy of ABC Action News. Hunker Down Diaries Logo by 13milliseconds.