My first 104th birthday bash

I’ve had some unexpected memorable experiences: interviewing my first celebrity (LeAnn Rimes), talking childbirth with a future president (Barack Obama) and flying a plane despite not knowing how and also being scared of heights (the pilot was with me for this training exercise that was part of a Memorial Day air show preview story for TV). Those are several experiences that come to mind.

Here’s another one that tops them all: partying with a 104-year-old for her birthday.

(Our family and Grammy on her birthday celebration.)

We call her “Grammy.” It seems like almost everyone does. Her real name is Lorena MacGregor. She is my wife’s maternal grandmother. Grammy lives in Tampa. A fun coincidence for me is that Grammy once lived in my hometown of Belleville, Illinois, when her husband was stationed at Scott Air Force Base. What a small world!

Grammy taught preschool into her 70s and still mentored at-risk kids into her 90s. And she just celebrated her 104th birthday. 104!

I had never met anyone who was 104. How many Americans live that long? I couldn’t find any statistics for how many 104-year-olds there are in the United States. But the 2020 U.S. Census showed that there were 10,946 Americans at least 105 years old. That works out to about one out of every 30,000 Americans.

Grammy wasn’t a big drinker throughout her life, ate her fruits and veggies, didn’t eat too many sweets, stayed active, loved kids and spending time with family and friends, went to church and kept a positive overall outlook. Seems like a good life plan to me. (By the way, that magnificent chocolate cake in the picture from her birthday party was her request. I said that she didn’t eat too many sweets. But I didn’t say that she skipped ALL desserts!)

When I got married, Grammy’s advice was to never go to bed mad at your spouse no matter how much you have been arguing. Seems wise. Oh, and to always try to stay optimistic. Also wise.

Grammy told us that she never would have expected to live until 104. No one in her family has ever lived that long. No one in many of our families ever has.

Her favorite part of her birthday celebration? It wasn’t chicken or the homemade macaroni and cheese, fresh fruit, empanadas or even that chocolate cake!

What was her favorite part of the party? “Family.”

“Always remember your family,” she reminds me. No matter how busy our work, chores or anything else gets.

Life can be difficult. It can’t be easy when our bodies don’t behave any more like we want. Grammy doesn’t “cut a rug” like she did every day over the lunch hour in high school with her future husband. She no longer sings in the church choir. And her wheelchair is never far from her side.

But her smile remains as strong as I remembered it when I first met her at the Iowa State Fair about 20 years ago. Little did I know back then that we would later become family. So thankful that we did.

And I can’t wait to party with her for her 105th next year. And maybe share some more of that chocolate cake, too.

Dave Price moved to Iowa in 2001 after growing up in the St. Louis area. He is part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please consider following others from the Collaborative.

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