Happy Birthway Margaret Evelyn

I found this photo in my great grandma's old cigar box and I asked my grandma, "who is this little girl"?  That's Margaret Evelyn.  So, I ask, "who is Margaret Evelyn"?  I wish you could hear my grandma's scratchy voice when she yells, "she's Roscoe's DAUGHter".  Like I was supposed to know this already.

Anyway, she is my grandma's cousin, the daughter of my grandma's uncle Roscoe Blaine Dunn and Esther Jackson Dunn.  She was born in 1931 and over the weekend Margaret Evelyn turned 80 years old.

Isn't she lovely?

She is named after her two grandmas, Susan Margaret "Maggie" Brashear Dunn and Minnie Evelyn Jackson.  Her mother died when she was very young and she and her brothers were sent to live with Roscoe's sister, Ruth Evelyn Dunn Paddock and her husband Herman in Oklahoma.

Margaret, Lawrence, Aunt Ruth and Harold traveling from Comanche, OK to New Mexico so Ruth could preach the gospel.

(Not pictured: CH and David Dunn)

Margaret's family gave her a surprise birthday party on Sunday.  Her son read this article from an old Ann Landers column to her:

What a legacy: Aging without Complaint

Dear Ann Landers: Here is an old clipping of a prayer from your column. It has yellowed with age, but has enduring wisdom that can help another generation of readers.

 Please run it again. ----F.W. in Worcester, Mass.

Dear Worcester: That piece is at least 25 years old, but it is still filled with insight. Thank you sending it on. Here it is, for "another generation."

Please God

My Children are grown now, and I have wonderful grandchildren. I love them all, but please, God, let me remember that I have lived, loved and enjoyed this life. Do not let me take away from their enjoyment by complaining about every ache and pain. I have earned them all.
Please keep me from mentioning my swollen joints, stiff knees, poor eyesight and anything else that isn't as good as it once was. Let me remember that I have enjoyed a full and wonderful life, and have been blessed in so many ways. Now is not the time for me to begin complaining.

Please let my mouth be closed while my ears are open to hear the fun they are having. Let me remember that I am still setting an example for them, and that if I keep quiet, they will forever think that I never had a single ache or pain in my life, and that I miraculously escaped the ills of old age.

They will, in later years, remember me with pleasure and say, "I wish I had her genes. She never had anything wrong with her!"
That, dear Lord, will be the best legacy I can leave them.

A beautiful legacy began when Margaret Evelyn was born in 1931.  Other historical events from 1931 can be found here.

The Empire State Building was completed in 1931.

Born in 1931:  James Earl Jones, Hope Lange, Larry Hagman, Regis Philbin, Oklahomans, Mickey Mantle and Billy Vessels.

 Also born in 1931:  Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, James Dean, Olympia Dukakis, Leonard Nimoy, and Robert Duvall.

For other famous birthdays from 1931 go here.

If I hadn't started this blog I would have never known Margaret Evelyn.  Her son contacted me after reading this post.  Now we are all friends on Facebook and I can wish Margaret Evelyn a happy birthday.
Happy grandma's day.
Love,
Territory Mom