Chilmark poet, author and distinguished elder citizen Margaret Howe Freydberg turns one hundred and seven today, an age so remarkable that you have to just stop and say it again. One hundred and seven. Peggy Freydberg, as she is known to most, is every bit as remarkable as her age. Her elegant writing, especially her poetry, has graced the pages of the Gazette for many decades. What follows is a stanza from her poem titled Swimming Lesson. 

We stand together,
he and I,
so old,
so near our endings,
and watch,
with wonder,
and with wanting,
the pure and sure beginnings
of seven goslings
being taught to swim in a straight line.

— Margaret H. Freydberg