Elizabeth Kinsey has a the-glass-is-half-full outlook on life, and she urges others around her to do the same.

"I always been a person who had a positive attitude," she said. "I try not to let things get me down."

Not even a recent diagnosis of cancer.

"She's my hero," said co-worker and friend Lisa Smith. "She never has a negative attitude, no matter how bad things get or how she feels. She keeps on smiling and laughing. She's a very positive person."

Mrs. Kinsey, 89, has worked in the clerk of Superior Court's office since 1978.

It's a job she enjoys, she said.

"I'm a people person," she said. "A lot of people come through the office, and I enjoy talking with them. I also love working because of my family down there. They are a beautiful group of people I enjoy seeing every day."

A couple of months ago, Mrs. Kinsey's doctor found cancer in one of her lymph nodes, and she had surgery. She has been undergoing chemotherapy, and though she's currently on leave she doesn't plan to stay gone for long.

As a matter of fact, she doesn't plan to retire anytime soon, she said.

"I've enjoyed working and being with people. I don't have any reason to retire," she said. "I did all the traveling I wanted to do when my husband was alive, so I'm very content to work."

Her devotion is one of the things her co-workers and friends admire, Ms. Smith said.

"When she was able to come to work, she never missed a day and was never tardy," Ms. Smith said. "She has a strong work ethic. It can be cold, pouring down rain or steaming hot, it doesn't matter, Mrs. Kinsey is going to be there.

''She's an inspiration."

Reach Nikasha Dicks at (706) 823-3336 or nikasha.dicks@augustachronicle.com.