“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
Mary is working to change negative attitudes around Inclusion/DEI, perceptions around Cannabis as Medicine, Social Injustices in Healthcare, and foremost, Aging with Grace and Fulfillment.
Recently, she has been able to draw parallels with women she’s known in the past, “comparing and contrasting how life affects us in our adventures in today’s world. We are Originals in a copycat society, and our stories, especially the way you are telling them, are worth listening to.”
Raising her son, along with an additional child are both of Mary’s foremost accomplishments in her lifetime. With family always being the center of her existence, Mary particularly holds dear the photographs which capture memories up to present day and family, including her ancestors, to visually represent where she comes from in this world.
She strives to be seen as a compassionate woman who will not judge others, as we do not know all of each other’s stories. In return, she hopes that others will not adjudicate her, especially not knowing all the ins and outs of her journey. This has also been a gift to Mary as the years have passed, not caring as much what others perceive her to be as a human being. Having lived without and with technology, Mary shares that her generation is living into upper age ranges and dispelling the myth that women over 50 think that skin products will actually turn back the clock of time and aging. It is about pampering and feeling better about themselves, not about fighting getting older. An ambition that Mary holds for her future is she ‘intend[s] to be the shoulders others can stand upon to elicit needed change.’
