by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
MOLLUSK—Marguerite Dwyer was busy baking cookies when I paid her a visit last week. She’d spent the day before blowing leaves off her driveway and a few days earlier had decorated her Christmas tree. Seems like minor accomplishments, until they’re put into perspective.
Dwyer, known to most as Mickey, will celebrate her 100th Christmas this week. Coincidentally, December 25 will be her 100th birthday and the night before, on Christmas Eve, she’ll sing a solo of “O Holy Night” at Bethel United Methodist Church in Lively, just as she’s done many times before.
Remarkable doesn’t begin to describe Mickey, whose only real ailments are arthritis and macular degeneration. She lives independently, still planting, weeding—with a small rototiller—harvesting a vegetable garden and doing yard work, including maintaining flower beds and removing leaves with an electric blower.
As part of the Greatest Generation, Mickey has led an exceptional life….
