Centenarian celebrates 100 years with newborn great-great-granddaughter
Edith Bramald and Amber Nicole Bevins are 100 years and five generations apart.
Edith turned 100-years-old on September 6, a few weeks after the birth of her third great-great-granddaughter, Amber, who came into the world on August 18.
Edith's daughter and Amber's great-grandmother Loraine Collingwood said her mother loved seeing the new arrival.
"She held her when she was only a few days old. It was lovely," she said.
"It was kind of amazing to think that they were 100 years apart."
Amber is the fifth generation of the family.
After getting married in 1943 Edith and her husband Max had three children. There are nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, including Amber's mother Samantha Fairhurst.
Collingwood said her parents met in Hamilton where Edith was a dressmaker and seamstress.
"She would bike to their places, make the garments and then bike home again at night. It was a different world then."
Max was enlisted in the New Zealand Army but was in Auckland Hospital for a long time with pneumonia.
They moved several times before settling in Okoki in northwest Taranaki, where they had a dairy farm.
They both made deliveries for the mailman and Dunbar's Store in Urenui, as far as Hutawai, near Tongaporutu, until Max retired, Collingwood said. Max passed away in 1991.
Edith is mostly in bed these days but got all dressed up for her 100th birthday party at the Urenui Boat Club last Saturday, Collingwood said.
"We had her in the wheelchair and she's not missing out on anything.
"She just loved it."
She got cards from far and wide, including the Queen, the Governor General, Winston Peters, and Peter Dunne.
"There were cards from everywhere. She was a bit blown away by it all."
And baby Amber's big brother Blake, 3, started a rousing chorus of "happy birthday" all by himself.
Collingwood described her mother as a "lovely, placid lady".
"She never complains, doesn't make any demands.
"She can see and she can hear but limited in both, but she's still got a sense of humour and every so often she comes out with something."
Written by Christina Persico. Republished with permission of Stuff.co.nz.