ESSEX, N.Y. (WCAX) – Just a ferry ride from Charlotte, Essex, New York, sits on the shores of Lake Champlain — a charming village with a delightful resident.
Margo Fish shares a little history about the town and herself.
“This was a schoolhouse. When merchants came from NYC, they needed a schoolhouse — this was in the 1800s.
Now, it’s Fish’s home. Inside, there’s a lifetime of living. “I think everyone who’s born has an interesting life. Fish brings it up a notch. She’s an artist and lover of poetry.
“I still say that hope is like a feather,” she says reciting Emily Dickinson. “‘It perches on your soul, it sings a song without any words, but it never stops at all.’”
Fish is also a pioneering athlete, running marathons at a time when few women did. “That would have been finishing the New York Marathon, ” she said, pointing to a photo. “I didn’t do it as a protest, I just thought it would be interesting to experience a global race.”
Now 95, Fish has put away the running shoes. “I remember someone said, ‘Growing old is not for sissies.’ And I said, ‘Now I understand,’” Fish said.
She hasn’t lost her zest to live along with a term of endearment, that’s, well – endearing. “I bow with a joy darling.
Rewind 90 years when the native of Erie, Pennsylvania would first lay eyes on her future husband, Howard. Fish called him “Mac.” “We sat next to each other and he used to walk me home in grade school,” she said. “We met in kindergarten and we were married for 50 years until he died.”
In between, the couple had a charmed life. Mac earned a theology degree from Harvard. They traveled and lived all over the world. But the loss of her childhood sweetheart was difficult. She comforts herself with her own lyrics. ”After he died, I would date gentlemen, but I wouldn’t want to marry again,” she said.
Reporter Joe Carroll: So, you’re not dating anyone right now?
Margo Fish: Well. ah, um hum.
Here’s the real scoop, Fish strolls down to the center of the village for something sweet. Essex Ice Cream is just a few licks away from her home. “Every day, I walk here. Every day, rain or shine.,” she said. “It’s just darling. It’s just healthy to get exercise and be out with others.”
Like local resident Chris Williams. “Everybody watches out for her,” Williams said. “Margo, she’s a hoot.”
“It’s a gift to all of us to wake up in the morning and breath and love each other,” Fish said.