My mother in law- (yes her again!)—- lived to 105!
She just did it to spite her son in law and possibly me too!
He who was married to her daughter who put a jelly to set and couldn’t find it
when her mother had taken it to set quickly in her refrigerator .
A good woman in many ways and she brought her sons up,well my husband
anyway ,to be a really good man ,I was very grateful to her for that.
Her early life had been very poor, but strong parenting and the family bond being their defence against true poverty got them through.
It was said in a radio programme quite some time ago that plain simple food eaten in a happy atmosphere of family love was more beneficial than rich food eaten for example by a child in the nursery with nurse maids whilst their Mamma entertained guests in the drawing room.
She never drank alcohol,ate simply and had a zest for life and a very ( oooh how very) fiery character,no messing her about and no fuss or nonsense either.
No memory loss and still crocheting hideous tea cosies and loo roll covers for church bazaars and presents!
Her mother was gentler but also a good woman,you know ,someone others turned to ,a stalwart in the neighbourhood and very kind ,not so outspoken as her daughter.
She it was who told me to let some callers in , they were Jehova’s Witnesses .
I bet you never thought they would beg to be let out —— but she matched them at every turn ,out quoted and referred to The Bible from memory.
Amazing ,I liked her very much.
Watching the cat with its kittens one evening when we were at m in law’s to be with great grandma , she said ,as one kitten did not want to be washed .
“ See, she will stand so much but in a minute she will give it a sharp tap to make it lie still,”.That happened.
G Grandma said -“ The odd smack does no harm if it is done in love , better a small smack before the adult loses their temper than a hard smack done in temper.Cats and dogs are good mothers, and they chastise when necessary .
Save your big guns ‘til last and hope to never use them.”
Oh how true .
She lived to be 87 only.
Her name was Sarah Ann ,” Seran “ to her family .
Tiny ,bird like .Used to buy a “ quartern “of flour and two ounces of barm ( yeast) to bake every week.Familyof five children one baby died very young .
But I wander from the point ,sorry ,which was that my mother in law after living a very simple life lived to be 105.
Viktoria.
