Encourage Me: The Birthday of a Matriarch

It was Saturday, December 12, 2015 (at around 12:30pm) at the Golden Corral Buffet & Grill in Gallipolis, OH. Many new friends or relatives (which I’d not seen in a long time) were gathered to celebrate the 100^th birthday of my feisty maternal grandmother, Erma Odessa (Parsons) Eagle.

When my grandmother arrived at her birthday party, she quickly realized the many people assembled had taken time out of their busy lives to let her know (in a very visible way) just how much they loved her especially on the afternoon of this special celebration.

As the power of the above message began to completely envelop her like a warm afghan, I saw something happen I rarely get a chance to view. Grandma’s eyes began to tear up.

Like the polite, self-less, grand lady I’ve always known my grandmother to be, she began to travel from table to table passing out smiles, hugs, and verbal appreciation to those that were in attendance.

Grandma even decided to share her care and a meal with her close friend (as opposed to her biological family), who was suffering mobility issues due to a recent accident.

Every person gathered here today (around fifty-five individuals) has their own unique memories of how my outspoken Grandmother has managed to touch their lives. To know Erma Eagle means you get the assurance of her love (no matter what).

If it were not for the sixty-five year marital union of my centenarian (100 years or older) and her soul mate, my late maternal grandfather (Robert Henry Eagle) there could have been no me, siblings, mother, uncle, cousins (and their kids), or daughter.

My grandmother is an amazing person. She enjoys cooking, gardening, canning, basket weaving, and being with family. Her longevity is credited to her spirituality, staying active and busy, living a clean life, and eating a good variety of food.

During my grandmother’s lifetime she has prepared over thirty Thanksgiving and Christmas meals for her extended family. She spent twenty years as a Head Cook for Vinton Elementary School and North Gallia High School, and ten years as a Supervising Cook for North Gallia High School.

When Grandma was just two months old, she had a fever that should have killed her. She was brought home in a shoe box to her mother, who fed her squirrel broth. She accounts her survival to that simple act by her loving mother.

In the year 1915 (when Grandma was born), many notable events occurred. Here’s a small sampling:

1. The U.S. House of Representatives rejected the right for women to vote.

2. The silent film "The Birth of a Nation" opens at Clune's Auditorium in Los Angeles (This was the first twelve reel film in America).

3. Cook Mary Mallon (known “Typhoid Mary”) is arrested and returned to quarantine on North Brother Island, New York after spending five years evading health authorities, and causing several further outbreaks of typhoid.

4. A hurricane kills 275 people in Galveston, TX with $50 million in property damage.

5. The first transcontinental radio telephone message is sent. Ford Motor Company (under automobile inventor, Henry Ford) manufactures its one millionth Model T automobile.

6. Irving Berlin and Harry B Smith's premiere their musical Stop! Look! Listen! in New York City, NY.

Some of the world events that grandmother would have been aware of during lifetime (or been affected by) included: World War I (1914-1918), Prohibition (1920-1933), the Stock Market Crash (1929), the Great Depression (1929-1939), World War II(1939-1945), the

Korean War (1950-1953), the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955), President John F. Kennedy’s Assassination (1963), the Civil Rights Act (1964), Vietnam War (1965-1973) the Gulf War (1990-1991) and 9/11(2001).

Our older generation is dying at an alarmingly fast rate. The website, www.nationalww2museum.org, estimates that around 492 World War 2 veterans are dying daily. By the year 2036, it is a possibility these brave warriors will all be gone.

If you have a senior citizen left in your life that knows about history that you weren’t alive for, thank God they still are with you. Their valuable insight into your family’s past is an important insight into the future of the real you.

If they are willing (and able), take time to record their personal historical accounts as told by them. You’ll both be glad you spent the time together to discover just how much you are alike in the adventures you’ve both had.

Maybe you can teach the other person something with the unique wisdom both of you possesses inside. Be quick because time is not on your side in this endeavor. Listen now as the clock of your life ticks faster than you thought was possible.