A Vanderhoof resident is turning 100-years-old next Tuesday and her one piece of advice is to always stay active.
Marjorie Thomson lives independently at the Fairview Apartments in a quaint place she calls home. She has neighbours who are like family and enjoys playing cards every Friday night, and exercising three times a week.
She was born in Vanderhoof on Jan. 18, 1922. Her parents had moved to the South Engen area from the States.
Thomson was 19 when she got married, and then in 1958, the Thomson’s moved to Prince George to get better education for their three kids and for a higher quality of life, and then found their way back to Vanderhoof in 1970.
“Vanderhoof is a nice town to live in and very friendly, and we made lots of friends once we moved here,” Thomson said.
She said she didn’t initially want to move to Vanderhoof after living in Prince George, but her husband had been dealing in livestock with cattle so he knew a lot of farmers around the community.
“We soon got acquainted.”
The couple lived in a double-wide trailer. Over the years she worked as a bus driver, in their own meat plant, and at the Deli. Thomson retired at 70.
After her husband passed, she moved to Fairview Apartments in 2018.
Talking about the frigid winter the region has seen recently, Thomson reminisced about how it was below 40 C one year and there was general fear about water and pipes freezing.
“If you live here, you have to do things in the winter time. I used to love to ski and I would go out in our pasture and ski for an hour all by myself, and didn’t really care if there was somebody with me or not.”
Thomson has lived a fairly active life and enjoyed going to the gym, swimming, biking, skiing. Now, she exercises often, and said she hasn’t had to go to the hospital for care since after her daughter was born. That daughter is turning 74 this summer.
“I have always had a purpose in my life. Everyday, I wake up and think of what I am going to do that day. If I don’t have anything specific, then I can always bake something.”
With COVID-19 cases increasing, Thomson wishes it would be over, but thinks public health is doing all they can with the current circumstances. She wasn’t born when the Spanish Flu hit in 1918, and says she hasn’t personally been impacted by a pandemic of this magnitude before.
“It’s hard to control people. People says they don’t like to be told what to do, but we have to do a lot of things that we don’t expect to when we wake up.”
“You get into a car, you put a seat belt on, and then you have to drive carefully, stop at signs, and that’s nothing new.” She agreed that kindness and empathy are very important in everyday life.
Some of her favorite memories are being close to her family.
“I have a really loving family. We are a family of 32 and get together often. I only had three children, but they spread out,” she laughed and added they always celebrate birthdays.
“It’s always a big occasion.”
READ MORE: Cards from all over the world flood in for B.C. man’s 100th birthday
Aman Parhar
Editor - Vanderhoof Omineca Express, Caledonia Courier
aman.parhar@ominecaexpress.com
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