Willie Mae Irving has been around for a long time. She is 102, and has always kept a picture of her mother with her. (Photo by Wiley Henry)

It is a reminder of how far she’s come. Irving, who is 102, has seen many Christmases come and go.

“Christmas was special to me then because we got toys,” the centenarian said. “I enjoy Christmas now, but not like I did when I was a child.”

Irving today wishes for basic gifts: good health and more time to celebrate with her family. She also plans to cook up a batch of delectable treats, said Bettye Eskridge, Irving’s daughter and caretaker.

“She still loves to cook,” Eskridge said. “She makes homemade jellies, boiled custard, homemade rolls and old-fashioned tea cakes. She can whip it up in no time.”

Irving is getting the best gift she’s ever received during the holidays: two tickets to President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Eskridge and her mother are planning to go to Washington D.C. to witness history unfold, as Obama takes the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States.

“She looks forward to seeing the new president,” said Eskridge, who acquired tickets from Tennessee’s 7th district U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn at the behest of her daughter, who emailed the congresswoman.

“I thought I would never live this long to see a black man as president,” said Irving. “I’m proud of him. I hope he does well.”

Eskridge was a little disappointed that her mother wasn’t able to help vote Obama into office. “Mom was a registered voter until they purged her record in 1996,” she said. “We didn’t know that until we stood in line to vote. They didn’t let her vote.”

Seeing that an African American has made it to the Oval Office has given both mother and daughter a reason to rejoice.

Irving was born July 15, 1906, in Fayette County Tenn. That year, Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States. On Jan. 20, Obama will become the 19th president during her lifetime.

Irving doesn’t consider herself to be that old. “Nothing gets old but clothes,” said Eskridge, quoting her mother. “That has always stuck with me.”

Nearly forty five years before Irving was born, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves, including her maternal grandparents, Lyn and Julie McNeil.

A paternal great grandfather, Irving said, was a white man who lived in Holly Springs, Miss. “Although my mother’s grandparents told her about him, she doesn’t remember his name,” Eskridge added.

During those days, Irving had to make the best of life – even with a fourth-grade education. “I went to a one-room school at a church,” she said. “It was the Hebrew’s CME Church.”

Irving even remembers her first-grade teacher, Mae Etta Jones Joyner, who taught her a poem that she still remembers. When she recited it, her words were clear and imbued with deep feeling:

“When I was a little girl, I washed my mother’s dishes; Now I am a great girl, I roll in golden richness.”

“Thank God my mother can read,” said Eskridge. “You ought to see her handwriting for her age. She writes beautifully and doesn’t have to mark an X.”

In church recently, Eskridge noticed her mother reading the church bulletin. “She had a problem with some words,” her daughter said, “but I told her to keep on reading.”

Still an active churchgoer, Irving has been a member of New Sherron Baptist Church in Cacye, Miss., since 1919. She is the oldest member of the church.

Irving has three surviving children; one son is deceased. She was married to George Irving for 56 years. He died in 1986 at age 81. But that hasn’t stopped the centenarian from living an abundant life.

“She’s traveled all over the county,” Eskridge said. “She’s been to the Grand Canyon, the White House, the Washington monuments, to Canada three times, Virginia, Maryland, New Mexico, North and South Carolina and other states.”

She has a good memory too, Eskridge said. “Sometimes I’ll forget something and she’ll say how come you didn’t tell me so I can remember it for you. I told her that I’m supposed to remember things for you.”

Although Irving can recall the names of people she knew as a little girl, she has some difficulty remembering the names of her descendants. She has 22 grandchildren, 67 great-grandchildren, 36 great, great-grandchildren, and five great, great, great grandchildren.

“It’s too many of them,” she said. “And they’re still coming.”

Irving is as proud as she is strong.  “She has a problem with hearing, but she has good health,” her daughter said. “We got a wheelchair for her, but she said as long as she can walk, she’ll walk.”

“I’m going to walk as long as I can walk,” Irving interjected.

Her best friend, Rosie Ferguson, will turn 100 on Christmas Day. They’ve been close friends since 1927. She’s in a nursing home, but Irving visits her as often as she can.

“The Lord has been good to my mother, Eskridge said. “She’s always been giving and caring, and helping people who are sick and down. She is blessed with longevity.”

When Irving gets to Washington, “we’re going to get her a wheelchair to sit in,” her daughter said. “I got a call and they told me that we will get special seats at the inauguration.”

Eskridge said she believes her mother should have her flowers and gifts while she’s alive. When the family comes over this holiday season, they’re planning on having a good time.