Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Brother flies in for her big day
A Coatbridge woman celebrated her 100th birthday last week – with a transatlantic visit from her 84- year- old brother.
Helen Watson celebrated her centenary with younger sibling Jim and friends at a lunch last week
Jim, the youngest of Helen’s five brothers, moved to Ontario, Canada, in 1953.
And Helen was delighted to share her special day with her only remaining brother.
She said: “I loved seeing Jim. We talk every day on the phone.
“The last time he was able to come and visit was around two years ago,so it’s lovely he’s been able to come over to help celebrate my birthday. “We are very close.” Jim paid tribute to his incredible sister at the birthday lunch last week.
He said: “Helen is full of life, full of fun and full of love.
“All through the years she’s been my closest sibling and closest friend. “We talk every day. “There is only five hours of a time difference so we make sure we keep in touch about things.”
Helen, a former shorthand copywriter in Glasgow, has certainly taken no shortcuts through life as she reached her centenary last Tuesday.
The former Gartsherrie Academy pupil has lived in Coatbridge all her life, aside from a stint working at an ammunition and bomb filling factory in England during the Second World War.
The centenarian said taking care of her brothers accounted for most of her time growing up.
She laughed: “I didn’t have time for hobbies because I was always looking after my brothers!
“I was the third child of six, the rose amongst the thorns!
“I have great memories of my childhood and my time at school, I can still name all my teachers.”
Helen married her husband Jack in 1953. They met whilst both travelling on a ferry to the Isle of Rothesay.
The couple didn’t have any children but were together until Jack passed away shortly before the millennium.
Helen’s birthday lunch was put on by BeFriend in Bellshill who provide much needed companionship for pensioners who are living on their own and don’t get many visitors.
One of their volunteers, Megan Walsh, 24, visits Helen every week for an hour to chat.
She said: “She is just brilliant for her age.
“She’s very funny, some of the stuff she comes away with really makes me laugh.
“Visiting her is so interesting, she has different stories every day.”
Two of Helen’s brothers, Harry and John, lived until they were 93.
And she revealed her secret to a long life, adding: “I start every day with a bowl of porridge and a pot of water with honey.
“But all through my life I’ve been blessed with good health.
“I think it’s just something that’s in the genes!”