For nearly nine decades, Evie Riski has ended each day the same way—pen in hand, filling the pages of her diary. Now 100 years old, the Lakota, North Dakota resident has kept a daily journal since January 1, 1936—just days before her 11th birthday. She hasn’t missed a single entry, accumulating nearly 33,000 reflections on everyday life. According to The Washington Post, it all began with a gift from her father, who was a diarist himself. Encouraging young Riski to record her days, he unknowingly sparked a lifelong habit. What started as a childhood project became a sacred ritual, documenting both her personal journey and the changing world around her. “We didn’t have a TV or a radio or a telephone, and I can tell you exactly when we got electricity—it was 1944. I sure did enjoy that,” Riski was quoted as saying in the report. Growing up in Niagara, a small town just a short drive from where she lives today, Riski wrote through every season of life. She documented everything—from ordinary family visits to historic milestones. Even in moments of hardship, Riski’s commitment to writing never wavered. Childbirth, illness, or a hospital stay couldn’t stop her. If she was too unwell to reach her diary, she scribbled notes on scrap paper and later transferred them into her journals. “There was really no excuse for me not to write in it,” she said. Over the years, her cursive handwriting filled notebook after notebook, all carefully stored in a cedar chest. Despite the digital age, she’s remained loyal to pen and paper. Now living in a retirement home for the past seven years, she still writes every night. “Every night, when I finish writing, I always look back one year to see what I was doing the year before,” she said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) The Washington Post also shared this on Instagram, where it went viral, and gave many social media users a sign to start journaling themselves. One user wrote, “This is my sign to make journaling a priority again.” Another user commented, “I am overwhelmed. This is such a treasure and inspiration. This is the best piece of advise for longevity, clarity of thoughts and pleasure. Notebooks are a girls' best friend.” A third user wrote, “What a wonderful legacy for her family to inherit. I hope they cherish and protect it, and it doesn’t get lost or broken up. I have very precious books created by my grandma and mum and they mean the world to me.”
