Alma Yarwood Momberger is a walking phenomenon. Her gentle character, nurturing approach, and insight are some of her most striking qualities, and her benevolence could spread through generations – literally.
Alma, is my 100 year-old great-grandmother.
From living through the Great Depression and playing a vital role in the second World War, to finding my great-grandfather and creating the beginning of our wild bunch, my gramma has seen and done it all.
Here’s a peek into The Story of A Century.
Born May 2, 1925 in Niagara Falls, NY, my Gramma experienced a different way of living.
“At that time, it was very calm. Not like it is today. Things were more personal, you know? Your neighbors were helpful, everybody was kind, everything was more simple.”
As we talked about her life in Niagara Falls, she answered the question all grandchildren (or great-grandchildren in this case) want to know: “Where did you meet Grampa?”
Unfortunately, in 1999, my great-grandfather Oscar “Ozzie” Momberger passed away. Though, that has never changed the love and care in which she continues to speak of him.
“I worked during the war, the second war. My father, he was working in Niagara Falls at that time, and he heard somebody talking about a school; Whitney Avenue School in Niagara Falls that you could go and learn to work on an airplane, and that’s what I did. I went down there, and learned how to work on the airplane.Then, I got a job.”
She continued.
“We were working on T39s and T63s. There were five of us that worked on the plane. Each of us had our own separate part, I worked on the engine. It was a Bell Airplane for Bell Airprice. That’s where he worked. He worked in salvage, and every once in a while we had to walk underneath where they were standing, then he started to work at my airport.”
“He also worked on the plane. He synchronized the guns so that they could go through the propeller. But, he had to join the service, so I only knew him for about a year, and then he left. We communicated back and forth, and when the war was over, he came home, and we got married!”
After going into detail about their adventures as newlyweds, we got onto the topic of the major differences between today’s culture, compared with society then. She talked about her multitude of experiences and how much they’ve changed!
“We used to go to the movies, and there was no heat in the movies, but everybody heated it up because there were so many people! And we mostly walked up there, we didn’t dive a lot. It was a small French town, but we moved around a lot!”
She mentioned what she wishes people could experience today, and her response was comical!
“Right now, it would be driving down the road without so many cars! To me, it’s getting bad!”
Gramma and I talked for a little while longer. We began talking about the newer generations. There’s so many differences! I asked what she would advise them, and here’s what she said:
“Be friendly with people and neighbors, and just enjoy life! Unfortunately the world isn’t as kind as it used to be. It’s a completely different world. Everybody’s in too much of a hurry. That’s the big problem; They don’t take time to smell the roses!”
Being gifted the opportunity to learn from my great-grandmother is a prize I’ll never take for granted.