TEXARKANA, Texas - On an average day, Georgia McFaul keeps a busy schedule to say the least.
McFaul, who is in her 80s, exercises every day, volunteers in the community, is active in garden clubs and does her own yard work.
But these have not been average days recently. McFaul's activity outside the home has slowed way down because of COVID-19.
"I've been staying home the last few days and I don't know what I am going to do with all of the free time," she said.
Daffodils line McFaul's driveway at her home in Liberty-Eylau. She loves flowers and is waiting for her azaleas to bloom.
"I've always had a garden, and I used to have a vegetable garden until the deer got it all," McFaul said.
Georgia Kovac McFaul was born and raised in Oak Grove, Louisiana, with several sisters and one brother. Her father moved to America from Yugoslavia.
"My parents had a cotton farm and we all worked in the fields," she said.
All of the children in the family went to college. McFaul graduated from Louisiana Tech University and worked as a teacher in Shreveport before she met her husband, Monte McFaul.
The couple moved to Texarkana and purchased the land and home she still lives in.
"We bought this place in 1960 and worked cows on it" she said. "I love it here."
She and her husband had two children, Monte Kovac McFaul and Maja McFaul. Monte Kovac McFaul passed away in 2016. Maja lives in Dallas and has two daughters, Sydney and Isabella.
McFaul taught fourth and sixth grades in Texarkana. She then started counseling programs in two local junior highs and worked at Texas High School before accepting a position as a counselor at Texarkana College.
She worked full-time at TC for 42 years and worked part-time for several more years after she retired.
"I loved every age I worked with as an educator, but once I started working with adults, I realized I loved that the best" McFaul said.
She enjoyed helping women who were continuing their education and also loved working with Vietnam veterans.
"They had so much experience and appreciated everything you could do for them," she said.
Volunteering has been extremely rewarding for McFaul.
She teaches a Sunday school class at Eylau United Methodist Church and volunteers two days a week as a receptionist at Domestic Violence Prevention.
"I work the front desk and answer the phone. I get people to the right person," she said. "I love the people that work there. I feel like I'm part of the group."
In 2016, she was recognized as the Adult Volunteer of the Year for her work with DVP.
She is also active in Red Dirt Master Gardening Club and Bluebonnet Garden Club.
Her yard work is also a source of pride. She mows her large lawn on a zero turn mower and also bushhogs around the place on her Kubota tractor.
"I'm always working outside," she said. She has been described by a neighbor as "the hard-workingest woman."
McFaul said she would encourage anyone to stay active in their senior adult years.
"Get involved in something. There are a lot of volunteer opportunities in the community," she said.
She still gets on her hands and knees to work in the flower beds.
"You have got to move your muscles or they will quit working on you," she said.