Elsie Melver says each person needs to create a vision of exuberance about their ideas.

And she practices what she preaches. People who know Melver describe her as the Energizer bunny, the nonstop character of TV commercials.

Mary Spurgeon, who has volunteered alongside Melver, said, ” Elsie get so excited about projects that she can barely contain herself. She is a walking paragon of positive values and enthusiasm. She’s charming, talented, and never takes herself seriously. Her focus remains on the project. Without Elsie and her exuberance, I don’t believe the Bayview Grange would have remained open.”

Melver said she doesn’t see anything special about herself at all, except perhaps that, “I am passionate about life.”

As she puts it, “If you’re excited about what you’re doing, people will want to get behind you. People usually don’t get involved with a project because of logic; they generally get involved because someone has ignited them with contagious enthusiasm.”

Don and Jan Allen have worked with Melver as volunteers at their church. “Even though Elsie’s body is failing her this past decade, that doesn’t stop her from doing for others,” said Jan. “When she cannot get out of bed, you will find her working from bed, organizing, or making afghans to give away.”

Melver said her body is wracked from a cancer that has no treatment available. “But that’s beside the point,” she said, laughing. “Oh boy, I have got so many more ideas, my mind just doesn’t shut off, my mouth doesn’t shut up, either. I have many things to do and think about.

“My brain is constantly thinking of things for me. I get so excited with an idea, especially when it is for someone else. I cannot let my health get in my way. It’s my body that gets sick, that’s not me. I mean, when I’m sick I’m not really sick.”

Rev. Jim Lindus of Trinity Lutheran Church said Grandma Elsie — that’s what she’s called by those who know her — IS the Energizer bunny.

“Although her body failed her and her batteries are low, she continues to muster the internal strength to keep going and going and going,” Lindus said. He, like many who know her, can easily list several examples of her enthusiasm. “When the church turned 45, Elsie organized a reunion of the 1957 church choir children. Every spring, Elsie writes a letter and embroiders a bookmark for all our confirmation students. This past May, on the anniversary of her own confirmation, Elsie rose from her wheelchair and sang her heart out. Inspirational? Not a dry eye in the place. Grandma Elsie is everyone’s grandma, and she loves all children.”

Melver said she and husband, Roald, wanted to have many children. “But the doctor said I probably wouldn’t live through another pregnancy, so we thought it made sense to live to raise the two we had. Dad (as she refers to Roald) said we could have all the children we wanted by borrowing them.”

One of her “borrowed” children is Karl Finn of Clinton.

“I’ve thought of Elsie and Roald as my grandparents ever since I can remember,” he said. “They even made a special trip down to California to meet my biological grandparents on both sides, to make sure it was OK with them if they ‘borrowed’ me as their Whidbey grandson.

“How lucky I am to have the Melvers as my grandparents right here. They have been an inspiration to me in all ways — also my encouragers, my role models and, well, just the best grandparents I could ever want.

Finn keeps in close contact with the Melvers. “We see one another at least once a week, and talk on the phone several times a week. They’ve taught me to help those in need, and to volunteer in your community. I’m just so proud of them. The one thing that scares me is losing them, and not having them in my life.”

She begins each day at 5:45 a.m. talking on her ham radio to her amateur radio buddies all over the world. Because her strength of spirit exceeds her physical strength, Melver conserves her energy for what she considers truly important. When greeting interviewers in her home at 3 in the afternoon she’s in PJs, bathrobe and fuzzy slippers.

“Getting dressed isn’t that important to me if I’m not leaving the house,” she said.

The table is set with her finest china. She insists on sitting next to the stove so she can make and serve her guests fresh hot aebleskivers, a baseball-sized Danish pastry. She likes to treat people special. As she stirs the goodies, she reflects. “Life is so so short, I don’t even want to waste one minute.”

Because keeping up with young people is important to Melver, she learned to use the computer at age 78. Her mind is sharp. She doesn’t miss much, and is constantly teaching herself new skills. As she put it, “We have to push our mental abilities, stretch our brain, so it won’t rust up.”

“Oh, have I lived. What a life this is,” she said. She throws her head back, laughs, and reaches out to touch the hands of her visitors, her eyes wide and her face bright.

Then she interrupts herself, all the while turning the aebleskivers. “Oh! look, look, look!”

She points out her kitchen window toward the harbor. “There’s our sailboat. Oh, and look — there’s our seaplane. Oh, and there’s our eagle. Oh, what a glorious life. Can you believe this life? Look, our seagulls.”

Some gulls land on her deck next to her open sliding glass door. Melver begins talking to them in what sounds more like duck language. “Quack, quack, quack, quack.”

The gulls tilt their heads, then begin making typical seagull sounds. Melver continues the conversation. “Now talk to me. Quack, quack, quack, quack.”

One of the gulls responds, making a sound much like a quack.

Melver smiles. “People think I’m crazy, and then if they find me talking to the birds, well they’ll know for certain I’m nuts,” she says, laughing.

Her mood turns quieter as she reflects on her marriage.

“I’m so lucky that I have a prince for a husband. Dad puts up with a lot from me. I’m bossy, short on patience, and I can be loud.”

She lowers her voice to a whisper. “Sometimes I think he makes up reasons to go shopping, just to get a break from me. However, Dad and I, oh boy, do we love each other. If he could, he would breathe for me.”

As she talked of her cancer, she said she’s not afraid to die. “Of course, I wish Dad and I could go together, but then that’s God’s business.”

Family and friends who have died are not really gone, she said. “They’re in my every moment, in my heart and thoughts. They are just gone from sight.” She points to a picture of her mother. “She’s in heaven, but very much with me. Her teachings are still a strong part of my daily life.”

Melver tells about the chunk of marble wall she obtained from the Ballard High School building. She hopes to have it used as her headstone. “I’m hoping that the chunk of marble will be inscribed with Revelations 2-10, “Be thou faithful into death.”

Her faith has been a part of her for as long as she can remember. “When I was in high school, and my entire life, some have called me a square. I wouldn’t go anywhere the Lord couldn’t go with me. And that made my life real simple. And I’ve always had a ball, even if some think I’m nuts, or an old square — who cares?”

She sips a Mountain Dew, noting she isn’t able to keep much else down these days. The carbonation seems to give her a natural fizz. The conversation wanders back to ham radio, where her handle is — what else — Grandma Elsie.

“Many other ham women say, ‘Well, I’m a grandma, too.’ Well, so what? I say. You can use that handle, too, if you want. I admit I’m milking the ‘grandma’ label for all I can get.”

But there’s another reason. “It’s easier for my ham buddies to think of me as a grandma. Then they think of me as family. I like that.”

Melver talks about a British Columbia woman she has met via ham radio who knits clothes for needy families. She’s 40 years old, totally blind, and in poor health. “Yet she is excited about life, because she had this vision,” Melver said. “She sets sleeves and everything, all by feel. Isn’t that something? It just goes to show, if your dream is big enough, the odds don’t matter.” Melver believes people can achieve anything if they stay committed and excited about it.

“This is the only life we’ve got. Let’s not squander even one minute of it.”