There will be a tea honoring Margaret Eddings on her 100th birthday at the First United Methodist Church Sunday, April 5 from 2-4 p.m. Everyone is invited.

Margaret was born Margaret Davis in Aldrich, the third from the youngest of seven girls and one boy. Her school days were spent in Piper and West Blocton and then Birmingham Southern and Alabama College. She married Oren G. Eddings and they had two children, Jenny and Oren, Jr. Today, she has six grandchildren and many great- and great-great grandchildren.

A recent visit with her was such fun. She has a vivacious personality with a bright smile and a delightfully contagious laugh. When I asked to what she attributes her happiness and long life, she said, “I believe they come from good food, good exercise, good company and a good outlook.”

As she remembered her 100 years, always with a smile, she talked about her husband, “Sweetheart” or “Daddy-O.” She met Oren at the West Blocton railroad station. Their romance began there and lasted all of their 70 years together. During the early years together, Oren was a mail carrier and they farmed; raised almost everything they ate with a garden, cows, pigs and chickens. Later they moved into Montevallo where Margaret taught kindergarten in the public school and then at home where they had added a room to accommodate the class.

I asked her about the changes she had seen in her lifetime.

“A whole lot of changes in people,” she explained. “They are more carefree, can’t be bothered with other people, have too much; that’s why children are so restless. Folks move too fast, don’t know how to enjoy each other or what they have.”

She told me about her family’s first car.

“My father paid the whole amount of $500 for it. Boy, it was a dilly compared to today’s cars! It had a canvas top, with detachable canvas curtains and isinglass windows. No starter, you cranked it. Look at our cars today: they all but cook and serve you. Some change.”

When we talked about today’s TVs, she remembered when she was a child her older brother lived across the road, had the only radio in the neighborhood, so he would place it in the window and play it loud enough so they all could enjoy it.

Tish Baker described her grandmother as, “The most gracious, compassionate grandmother ever. She gives so much of herself to all of us and she is always there for us. When there is a problem or a tragedy, she always tells us to simply trust the Lord, and that’s exactly what she does every day.”

Margaret assured us she is looking forward to the tea on Sunday and that she will enjoy seeing old friends, former students and family.

Catherine Legg can be reached at clegg2@bellsouth.net