On Hitting Triple Digits

The number 100 has a ton of significance. If you’re “keeping it 100” you’re being honest and real. If your favorite baseball team’s pitcher is throwing 100 mph, he’s throwing GAS. If this essay gets a 100% open rate, well then, every single one of you lovely subscribers is reading it and I’m doing a little dance in my apartment. All of these hypothetical 100s are impressive… and they all pale in comparison to one instance of hitting triple digits: Grandma Ruthie Peterman turning a GLORIOUS 100 years old! (Ruthie also sometimes reads these essays so feel free to shout her out in the comments!)

When I was born, 3 out of my 4 grandparents had already passed away. Of course, I’m sad that I never got to meet them or got to know them (a feeling that has only increased as I’ve gotten older and more curious) but at the same time, I didn’t really feel like I was missing out too severely because the one grandparent I had, was enough of a superhero to fill 4 sets of shoes.

Ruthie is a spectacular lady. She ran a restaurant and managed her incorrigible husband (my namesake Bill Peterman) all while being a den mother to basically every kid and teenager in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That fact was put on display with the outpouring of love she received on and around her 100^th birthday. From Facebook posts to flowers to cards, you could have buried her in praise if she weren’t so lively and mobile (especially for a centenarian).

I had the distinct pleasure of attending her 100^th birthday weekend… and while traveling to and from Wisconsin was the absolute most awful experience of my life (more on that coming soon), the vision of my tiny but wonderful Grandmother delivering a moving speech straight out of a Hollywood movie (COMPLETELY OFF THE CUFF! It was incredible!), is a memory I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.

The number of things a person experiences in a hundred years is astronomical and the thought of it has been blowing my mind for the past few weeks. The difference in the world of 1923 and 2023 is mind-numbing. Prohibition was in effect in 1923…in 2023 you can get boozy milkshakes, boozy tea, and boozy kombucha (hell kombucha didn’t even catch on in the US until the late 1980s). In 1923 the life expectancy for women was only 56 years old (which Ruthie has nearly doubled)! And in 1923 women had only recently gotten the right to vote and were well on their way to being treated as equals in America…oh wait, just kidding women are still treated like second-class citizens in this country even a century later…

But back to Ruthie, you’d expect someone with 100 years of life under their belt to be weary, cynical, and jaded, but Ruthie is still optimistic, energetic, and a joy to be around. She’s lived a life that hasn’t been easy but has used those trials and tribulations to become the kind of person we should all strive to be. She’s a huge part of why I am who I am and why my family is such a loving and special group.

Here’s to you Ruthie! May you reign for 100 more years!