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Forest Park woman celebrates 97th birthday

The new 97-year-old was greeted by loved ones, near and far!

ATLANTA — Happy Birthday, Mary Alice! She is now 97, according to her granddaughter Eli Kenn who shared the great news with 11Alive.

Kenn and her family came together to celebrate the moment despite the challenge of social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Amid this health crisis, our family is celebrating my grandmother's 97th birthday. With social distancing, we visited her at her healthcare facility today at noon. Grandmama has lived through so many things in her near-century of life,” Kenn wrote.

“Mary Alice was so happy to see everyone, and celebrated with blowing kisses and observing the necessary distancing. Her healthcare hero pictured, Dallas, takes great care of her, along with all others at the facility. Benton Village staff are heroes as they quickly put measures in place to be one of the few eldercare places with zero cases of COVID-19. We are so thankful for them and for their making Grandmama's celebration happen,” she added.

The new 97-year-old was greeted by loved ones, near and far.

“Pictured are her daughter, Janice, her granddaughter, Alice, and her great-granddaughter Bella- whose younger sister joined in the celebration via FaceTime,” Kenn wrote. “Also commemorating this incredible woman's 97 years, is her other daughter, Vicki, Son-in-law, Chip, grandchildren: Todd, Kristi, and Ryan, as well as many other great-grandchildren, along with myself and my two daughters, Larsen and Alden.”

Credit: Eli Kenn
“Pictured are her daughter, Janice, her granddaughter, Alice, and her great-granddaughter Bella- whose younger sister joined in the celebration via FaceTime,” Ken wrote

Kenn reflected obstacles that Mary Alice has faced throughout her lifetime, including a near-fatal shooting.

“There are the historic milestones of our nation and world, some happy, others devastating. However, there is one event in her life not many experiences and live to tell about it. She was shot, near fatally, in 1982, in her Forest Park home by her husband, who then went on to fatally wound his sister and himself, after also wounding his other sister and brother-in-law,”  Kenn wrote.

“It was tragic, and nobody expected our beloved grandmother to live, but, through her own perseverance, a ton of family and friend love, along with the superlative medical care she received, she survived and is nearly 100 years old,” she added.

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