She is healthy and alert
My sister Miyeko Meg Kiriyama says she never expected to live to be 100 years old, but she turned 100 on March 4 of 2021. Her health is very good. She walks without a cane or any assistance, and her mind is sharp. She enjoys getting out and participating in various activities. Everyone tells her that she does not look like she is 100. She says she doesn't feel like it either.
When she turned 99, the family had a dinner for her at a restaurant with a small group of family and friends. Her son said at that time that if she made it to 100, they would plan to have a big celebration for her birthday.
Then COVID hit. The pandemic came with full force to put an end to big celebrations. Meg did make it to 100, but the birthday party had to be scaled down. No large party was planned, but a drive by celebration was held for Meg where family and friends could come by to wish her a Happy Birthday.
People drove up or walked over to wish Meg a Happy Birthday at her drive by party. She was interviewed by a television reporter for KSLTV which ran a segment on their evening news show. Extended family members also had a ZOOM meeting on her birthday.
A special birthday gift to Meg came as her grandson Kyle and his wife Hailee, had a baby daughter born on Meg’s 100th birthday. Her name is Rosalie Miyeko Kiriyama. The new great granddaughter was born in Maryland where Kyle is serving in the U.S. Army. Also celebrating with Meg were her two great grandsons, twins Issac and Lucas, who are the children of Meg’s granddaughter Kristen and her husband Nick. They were born two years ago on Meg’s birthday and live close by in Utah. Kyle and Kristen are the children of Meg's oldest child Lane.
Born as the oldest child in the family of eight children, Meg was born in Cache County in the northern part of Utah. Her parents were immigrants to the United States from Kagoshima, Japan. Her younger brother, Shigeru Mori, was killed in the crash of an army airplane in Japan while he was serving with the Military Intelligence Service of the U.S. Army during the occupation of Japan at the end of World War II. Another brother, Nob Mori, died of cancer in 2000 in Utah. The other siblings are still living, three in Utah and two in California.
Meg grew up in the Salt Lake Valley and graduated from Murray High School, just south of Salt Lake City. After World War II ended, she moved to California, where she married and had three children. She moved back to Utah in the 1990s and now lives in Salt Lake City.
One of her main activities was bowling. She bowled in a league in California for many years and then joined a bowling league in Salt Lake City. She was bowling regularly until the COVID pandemic caused the league to suspend play.
Two billboards honoring Meg were placed in Salt Lake City by her nephew, Dewey Reagan.
Her children (Lane, Karen, and Glenn) are proud to have a mother like Meg. She is an amazing lady who continues to be active. She is fortunate to have good health. She looks forward to the end of the pandemic and problems with COVID so she can get back to her normal activities like bowling even if it is not possible to resume participating in the bowling league.
Many more people are living to be 100 years old now than in the past. Meg is one of them who is enjoying life in her home state of Utah.
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