Emilie Shaw, the Sunshine Coast’s oldest resident, celebrated her 107th birthday last Saturday with her customary wit and wisdom.
“Everybody comes to wish me happy birthday. Now it’s over,” she laughed, sitting in her room at Shorncliffe Lodge in Sechelt.
Emilie was watching horse races on her new Toshiba TV set, a birthday gift from her grandson Richard McGuckin on behalf of the Canadian branch of her family living on the Lower Mainland. She had also received “two lots” of flowers, her congratulatory card from the Queen – her eighth – and a three-page printout of birthday greetings from admirers on Facebook, among other gifts. The District of Sechelt had proclaimed the day Emilie Shaw Day in her honour. But the new screen seemed to be the biggest hit.
“You can see how clear it is,” she said.
The day before, the family had taken Emilie to Bayview Restaurant for Chinese food at her request.
“We like that sort of food. We chose that one because I can eat it and I don’t think that little bit matters. But it’s tasty,” she added with emphasis.
Three of Emilie’s four children live in Australia, as do most of her 13 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren, but she was visibly warmed by the presence of the handful of family members who attended the dinner.
She was born Emilie Bohm in England on July 9, 1909. According to daughter Frances McGuckin, Emilie’s father was a Hungarian trapeze artist who died after falling during a performance on the Isle of Wight when Emilie was a young girl. Despite her English upbringing, Emilie describes herself as “a continental,” having travelled and lived in Europe as a cook and nanny before the Second World War.
“The continentals are much easier to get on with. At times,” she said.
Emilie was living with Frances in Halfmoon Bay when she suffered two bad falls that resulted in her being hospitalized for five months. Though her subsequent confinement in a wheelchair is a source of chagrin, Emilie can laugh at that, too.
Describing how she fell one time after slipping into a sliding glass door, she noted: “Feeding birds is not easy.”
On Halfmoon Bay, she said: “It’s a nice place all round; it’s just, people make places. I make sure I get on with most of them.”
On mortality, she said: “How long have I got to go? You don’t know, do you? I’ve been in a room where somebody’s just faded and died. So you’ve got to take it all in your stride.”
On her lack of mobility: “Best to get out when you can, that’s all. But I can’t stand up. I’d love to stand up and get up and walk away. Not today. No. Just have to cope with it – but not willingly.”
Near the end of the interview, she told this reporter: “Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to talk to a woman. She’s been where you haven’t.”
As with so many of Emilie’s pithy sayings, she followed it with her delightful laugh.
