Ednajane “E.J.” Truax in her District of Columbia home. Maggie Penman/The Washington Post

There are a lot of busy people with packed calendars in D.C. Not many of them are 90.

On a Tuesday I texted retired nurse and nonagenarian Ednajane Truax to see when she might be free to talk. She responded: “Friday after two is O.K ….”

Truax, who is known to friends and neighbors as “E.J.,” can often be found on her hands and knees in the dirt, working in the garden at the Sherwood Recreation Center in Northeast Washington. She also has an impressive garden of her own and helps out with other neighbors’ gardens. She works out several times a week, sometimes while wearing a shirt that says “You don’t stop lifting when you get old — you get old when you stop lifting.” She can bench press 55 pounds

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