Evangelist Billy Graham turns 91

MONTREAT, N.C., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Evangelist Billy Graham, who turned 91 Saturday at his home in North Carolina, says he is "enjoying this season of life."

A few close friends and members of his family were to join him for the day, The Asheville Citizen-Times reported.

Graham said he misses his wife Ruth, who died in 2007. Ruth Graham was a partner in her husband's work with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, as well as in their marriage and family life.

"While I know God keeps me here for a purpose, I look forward to the time when I will be reunited with Ruth in Heaven," Graham said in a statement. "However, I am enjoying this season of life, watching my

children and grandchildren -- and now even my great-grandchildren -- grow more fully into their own ministries. It is another blessing of these senior years."

Franklin Graham, now president of the association, said his father is still mentally alert, The Charlotte Observer reported. But he uses a walker to get around his home on a mountaintop in Montreat and his eyesight is failing.

Graham still studies the Bible every day and gets weekly visits from his pastor, the Rev. Don Wilton of the First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, S.C. While he no longer gives interviews, he still writes and is working on a book, tentatively titled "Nearing Home," about old age.