Mrs. James Moffat lived in Limerick, a hamlet near the northern end of Lake Ontario in northwest New York State.
The Post Office in Limerick closed in 1998.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick,_New_York
In September of 1923, Mrs. Moffat was celebrating her 90th birthday.
(Born in 1833, Mrs. Moffat would have seen an incredible swath of US history.)
For the occasion, Mrs. Moffat was given a postcard from Aurinda Terry – also of Limerick.
Aurinda did not mail the postcard greeting.
We may assume that the postcard was hand-delivered by another friend or neighbor.
The face of the postcard shows a drawing of irises beside a rural stream -the stream is crossed by a stone bridge.
A brief, printed message encourages the reader to “Smile!”
“Make every hour a smiling one and you’ll fill your world with sunshine.”
The optimistic postcard was published by “Gartner & Bender Publ’s” of Chicago.
It seems likely that, in her ninety years, Mrs. Moffat had many moments in which smiling was difficult.
Nevertheless, the achievement of her long life may have brought a joy and happiness to her.
