Recently, I had the chance to interview my great grandmother, Margaret Dolorey. She lives at the Colonial Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Weymouth and just turned 103 this past March. I was able to get many stories from her century of experiences that ranged from WWI up until the present day. It was an amazing opportunity, and I would like to share her stories and wisdom that she passed on to me.

What was your earliest memory?

My first, biggest memory; I can tell you very well what it was. It was marching down Harvard Street (in Brookline where she was born) with my little American flag when I was seven years old. It was when WWI ended, and my father was drafted and was supposed to enter the war the following week. It was probably one of the happiest days of my life knowing that my father didn’t have to go to war after all.

Do you remember anything from WWI?

I can remember how everyone was talking about it. I can remember the influenza and that so many people died because of it. My father had it, but he survived. It was so scary.

What was it like living through the Great Depression?

It was a very hard time. I remember seeing the bread lines, and all of the people. I was lucky because my mother had a good job as a secretary for a very rich man. We even got rides around from a chauffeur. We were so lucky.

When did you meet your husband?

Oh, I remember this, it’s another cute story. When I met Tom, he was playing in an Irish band with his friend Paul. When he first saw me, he said to Paul, “You see that girl in the red dress? I’m going to marry her!” But I actually didn’t really fancy him, because he was a lot shorter than me. Believe it or not I avoided him and told him that my name was Mary. I even gave him a fake phone number so that he wouldn’t call me because I didn’t want to be with the shrimp! But, my best friend fancied Paul, and tricked me into going on a date with him. Eventually we got married, and were married for 62 years before he died. So, yes. I married the shrimp.

How many children did you have, and can you name them all?

I have nine children. I will try my best to name them all. (At this point, she began naming all of her children in order from oldest to youngest. She got a bit lost along the way, but with the help of one of her daughters, my Nana, she was able to list all of them). It wasn’t so bad having nine kids, other than the fact that I didn’t think I would have that many. I remember praying to Saint Ignatius for kids, and after my first three children, I began asking him to turn it off! (She began giggling at this point) I don’t know, it didn’t bother me. Oh, maybe it did, you know, now I’m thinking I probably cried a lot.

What was your favorite story to tell?

Oh! I have this really cute story about my old horse Sam. My father used to try to get him from the pasture with the bridle, but he would always whinny and run away because he wanted to play. So my father would come back to the house and say, “I can’t get him!” Then one day, I went down to the pasture in one of my dresses with a ribbon and I put the bridle on the ground so that Sam couldn’t see it. Because he couldn’t see the bridle, he came over to greet me, and I took the ribbon around his neck and took him to the house. My father was so surprised when he saw me walking up to the house with the horse that he couldn’t get for weeks, and I got him to go with me in one try.

Do you have any wisdom or advice that you would like to share?

Yes. People today just need to slow down. If you keep going so fast, your life will pass you by and you will have no memories to cherish or share. Just slow down and smell the roses.