"I NEVER think of age. It is only a number," Margaret (Meg) Short quipped yesterday when asked her recipe for a healthy, long life.
A resident at Wanganui's Masonic Court, Mrs Short was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, on November 23, 1906.
"I can't believe I'm turning 100 and that I'm going to
read about it in the Chronicle. I still can read without glasses and look forward to the newspaper," she said.
The second youngest of six children, she remembers travelling on the train from Auckland to Taihape with her parents, William (Wally) and Agnes Donaldson.
"We were going to go to the South Island, but when the train stopped at Taihape my parents got off and liked it so much we settled there.
"My father was a tailor. He bought a shop and set up a tailoring business. He was very particular about our clothing, that it looked right, and so am I. And I like colour."
Taihape, Mrs Short said, was a wonderful place to grow up in, but she wasn't overly keen on school at first.
"I was five and got the strap on my first day. I'd pinched a girl who put her arm on my desk. I never got the strap again but came close several times."
Taihape gave plenty of scope for her love of the outdoors and also was not too far from the Whanganui River.
"When I was 20 I married Raymond Short, a school teacher, and for some years we lived in Wellington. He was a lovely man.
"One of our best holidays was on the Whanganui River. We built a rowing boat on the bank and then came down from Ongarue to Wanganui, where we sold it for more than it had cost!"
The couple had two children, Ian who is a retired dentist in Wellington and the late Dorothy, who moved to Canada. A keen tramper, climber and fly fisherwoman for many years, Mrs Short's most vivid memories include visiting Canada and fishing for trout and salmon.
Mrs Short was widowed in 1947.
She will celebrate her birthday today at Masonic Court with a gathering of family and friends.
