Traveller Mae passes 100-year milestone
Hard work and genetics are the secret of celebrating 100 birthdays, says East Kilbride’s Mae Miller.
Mae celebrated her centenary at Meldrum House Day Centre with daughter Liz Keddie, granddaughter Alison Keddie and her partner Paul McVey, and friends Cathy Morley, Sheila McLeod and Ena Brown.
Also dropping in to mark the occasion were South Lanarkshire Provost Ian McAllan, who presented Mae with a card, framed scroll and flowers, and Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Lanarkshire Louis Munn, who handed over a card from the Queen.
Mae was born in Clydebank in 1917 and has lived through the Russian Revolution, two World Wars and the Depression.
One of four children – she survives her two sisters and brother – she attended school when pupils used chalk and slates.
On leaving school Mae first worked in a florist and then in a chocolate factory, giving her a lifelong love of flowers and chocolate.
She, her brother and sisters were all accomplished ballroom dancers, which is where Mae met her husband Alec.
The couple married in 1938 and had two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne, although Anne died nine years ago.
Alec worked in the Armament and was also a retained fireman, giving Mae vivid memories of the rowdy bell that used to go off at all hours.
Mae was born and bred a Bankie and was caught up in the Clydebank Blitz of 1941.
Heavily pregnant with her second child Anne at the time, she was sheltering in a tenement close across the road from John Brown’s Shipyard when a bomb that would have been a direct hit failed to explode.
As they grew up the whole family were keen on the outdoor life.
Alec was a fisherman and Mae and her daughters enjoyed walking and swimming.
In fact, she swam every week until she was nearly in her 90s.
Mae, Alec and the girls were great hostellers, their favourite being Crianlarich, and memories of warden Big Jessie still make them smile.
Alec died in 1966, but this opened up a new chapter in Mae’s life as she started travelling.
Since then she has travelled widely, from swimming in the Red Sea to enjoying mud baths in Turkey.
After being widowed Mae moved in with her daughter Elizabeth and family and then moved into her home in Germiston Court, in Lindsayfield, where she still lives today.