Mom Mom Marge is 98

In the year 1926, nearly a century ago…Benito Mussolini increased his power in Italy. John Louie Baird gave the world’s first demonstration of a working television at his laboratory in London. Three years before the infamous Wall Street Crash in New York City, land on Wall Street sold for a then-record $7 per square inch. The first transatlantic phone call from London to New York was completed. Ford Motor Company implemented the 40-hour work week for factory workers. Babe Ruth became the first player to hit three home runs in a World Series game.

In 1926, several of the most influential people of the 20th century were born, such as Queen Elizabeth II, Fidel Castro, Marilyn Monroe. On March 8, 1926, one of the most influential people in my world was born, my grandmother, Margaret Virginia Wren. “She claims that no one should live to be this old,” with a chuckle in her quieted laugh. We wonder if she means that.

She still lives independently, holding her freedom firmly with a sign I remember all my life still above her kitchen sink. It proclaims, “Do Something. Either lead, follow or get out of the way.” We know she means this.

She will never forget to send you a birthday card. She will always remember to call. She delights in old photos where you’d mistake her for a movie star, painfully delighted as we ask her to relive her history, adventures, loves. She’s laid to rest every beloved human, dog, love in her old albums and the pain is palpable, but she is patient with us now. Everyone from her generation lives only in her memory and she visits them in her stories.

We feel selfish and foolish in our 'youth' around her, I wonder if she thinks this too. My world traveling, strong willed, physically gifted, sharp minded, hostess extraordinaire, musically gifted, animal loving, Victorian furniture loving, Andes mint serving, Quaker Acres Queen, really gave 1926 a legend.

As her only granddaughter, I see her clearly now as a woman, as time has gifted me love, agony, victory and defeat, heartbreak, survival, enough to treasure her fully for all that she is and all she must hold in her heart. She always asks me if I’m looking after myself. She means this and she knows the answer without my words. Look out 99 - Mom Mom Marge is coming for you. Be gentle with her, her beautiful heart and sparkling blue eyes. She has truly seen it all and thinks so too. We believe her. #OneBeautifulLife