Published: Thursday, 8th May, 2008 08:00
105 reasons to celebrate
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WITH the arrival of her 105th birthday today (Friday), Macmerry great-grandmother of six, Christina Brown truly believes she’s seen and done it all.
Not one to make a fuss, Christina (or Chrissie as she prefers), was due to celebrate her milestone birthday at her Brierbush Road home with a “quiet” gathering of family and friends – some of whom were coming all the way from Liverpool to share in the special occasion.
One of five children born to parents George and Jessie Pringle, Chrissie spent her childhood in Berwickshire as her father was gamekeeper of Duns Castle.
More than a century later, she has experienced two world wars and one of her earliest memories was hearing, aged eight, the tragic news that the ill-fated Titanic had sunk.
Chrissie was animated and attentive as she chatted on Monday, leaning forward in her armchair to share the secret of her continued good health.
“I never smoked or drank – I don’t even know the taste of drink,” she smiled.
“And all I drink now is pineapple juice!”
She met her husband George, a gardener at Marchmont House, in the Borders.
They married in 1933, moving to East Lothian four years on, to live in Huntingdon.
And Chrissie has remained in the county ever since. “I’m very glad that I’m still in my own house,” she said. “I moved here (in 1973) when these houses were first built and I’m the only one left – it’s all new tenants now!”
Her family has expanded from two daughters, Betty, 74, and Margaret, 71, to include four granddaughters, five great-granddaughters and one great-grandson.
Though she rarely ventures out of her Macmerry home and sometimes struggles to hear, Chrissie keeps herself occupied, and her mind alert, by solving crosswords, reading and watching snooker on tv.
“I’ve been doing crosswords since the 1920s when they first started,” she said.
There’s no question of Chrissie getting lonely in her old age, as a steady flow of visitors pass through her front door every day, including eldest daughter Betty, who also lives in Macmerry and makes daily trips to spend time with her mum.
She joked: “I remember when she first moved into this house and I thought ‘I hope she gets a couple of years here.’ And now here we are 35 years later! I just hope I’ve got her genes!”
Chrissie, asked what she’d like as a birthday present, said: “I can’t think of a single thing I want! “I’ve got a lot of nice, happy memories and I’m very well looked after.”
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