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LANETT — Mable Walker of Lanett is an expert at putting together 500-piece jigsaw puzzles. She’s been doing it for 30 years and has found it a great way to relax and to relieve the stress of the day.

“You can forget your troubles when you concentrate on putting together a puzzle,” Walker said.

“It’s a good way to pass the time. I love challenges, and it’s a challenge to put together any puzzle that has a lot of pieces to it. Most of the time, it takes me two weeks to put one together. The ones that are hard may take up to two months. It takes patience and concentration to get it done. You have to have a feel for how each piece fits into a pattern.”

Two of her favorite puzzles are the birth of Jesus and the Last Supper. The nativity puzzle shows the baby Jesus in Mary’s arms. She’s accompanied by Joseph and the three wise men inside a stable with animals nearby.

Most of Walker’s puzzles are still assembled. Some of them have been taken apart and put back in the box. She has never put together the same puzzle twice.

“I feel like I know it, and there’s no challenge in doing it a second time,” she said.

Another of Walker’s favorite puzzles shows Pinocchio overlooking a beautiful setting.

“I love those Geico commercials,” Walker said, noting how a modern-data Pinocchio would have big-time trouble with that nose.

She also likes some winter scene puzzles she’s done, one with Mickey and Minnie Mouse skating during the Christmas season and another from America’s Colonial days.

Walker and some of her puzzles were featured in a recent edition of the Lanett Housing Authority quarterly magazine. She was a double winner in the publication, having also been named the first-plat winner in the Lanett Housing Authority’s 2019 Christmas decoration contest.

Walker was born and grew up in Lanett. She says she’s proud to call it home today.

“I’ve lived here all my life,” she said. “It’s the only place I have ever called home.”