NELSON Bay resident Lillian Monin celebrates her 100th birthday on 14 May.
Having lived in The Bay for 19 years, she has witnessed exponential change, most notably the increased traffic, people and buildings.
News Of The Area asked Lillian what her most cherished memories are of this past century.
“Getting married, having children and walking up and down Tomaree as a girl every day,” she said.
“If I could live my life over, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
She raised eight children with her professional fisherman husband Maurice, who was affectionately known as “Bub”.
Technology has been the most radical and significant change over the decades, with Lillian learning how to use online banking to send birthday money to her 17 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.
Lillian is also adept at using her iPhone and enjoys using social media to keep up with everyone.
Her advice for newcomers and younger generations is to “be kind to one another.”
She wishes that “people would better appreciate that every day is a blessing”, and her most important ageing lesson is “to keep your brain and body active.”
Lillian gets her newspaper delivered daily, reading it back to front and doing all the crosswords.
By Jacie WHITFELD
