One of the oldest women in Britain who never married shares key to long life as she turns 106

Mary Spiers, from Manchester, turns 106 today, August 18. To mark her birthday, she shared what she believes is the key to a long life. She says she got to this age by steering clear of men, preferring to live unmarried with her sisters in a house in Cheshire until just a month ago. Revealing the key to her long life, Mary said: “I dont drink, I dont smoke and I dont chase men! “You just get up and get on with the day. You just live every day, every minute and you dont realise its piling up. “Ive got a sense of humour, and it gets you through some difficult times. Its not been all happy. Its been sad in lots of ways.” Mary had a boyfriend once, an RAF man she met during the Second World War before he died shortly after the war. After that, she spent time living her own adventures, which have seen her bounce around the country and work a total of 14 jobs across her life. After a stint in Southampton, until she was 18, Mary’s furniture-selling dad moved the family back north to Manchester to escape the bombing of the port city. Mary said: “I remember the bombs, the incendiary bombs, everywhere shattered. Once youve heard one, you never want to hear another one. “Im lucky to be here really. Lots of those boys who fought, a lot of them were only 17. Lets hope we never have another war.” From then on she held more than a dozen jobs, as a cleaner, weaver and cinema usher, even working on British war hero General Montgomerys car while employed at Chrysler. Instead of getting married, Mary suggests preferring the companionship of her two sisters Ruth and Dorothy, who also lost their boyfriends during the war. Mary said: “No one would have me! But Im here to tell the tale. I had two lovely sisters, and we were very close. We were what you call a close-knit family. “At times it wasnt easy, there wasnt much money coming in. But we did everything together. “We went away together, we did the housework, the decorating, and the gardening. We didnt need anyone else, we had each other. We had enough. “We just went day by day. Some things you enjoy, some things you detest but you just get on with it and earn a living. But its all been interesting. I wouldnt have missed it for the world. “The family Ive got left are lovely. Ive also got some lovely friends here, they couldnt have been nicer to me. There is a man who moved in the other day who is 104. “Where Im going to end up, I dont know. I read in the paper some time ago that someone abroad was 117. 117! I thought well I dont want to live to 117.” Queen Elizabeth sent her a 100th birthday card in 2018, while a second came from King Charles and Queen Camilla for her 105th last year. Her cousin and next of kin, Henry Hesketh, 89, said: “Shes been wonderful. As a child, she used to do a lot for me. But all my life shes been there. Were very proud of her. As a person, shes always got a joke for you every five minutes. You just have to laugh. Shes just a happy person. And I think thats why shes still with us because she looks on the bright side the whole time. The post One of the oldest women in Britain who never married shares key to long life as she turns 106 appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.