Jean’s Story: Taking risks and drinking brandy… the secret to living 107 years!

19/09/2023

One of our Hahndorf residents has just turned 107! Yes, you read that correctly. This iconic achievement places her within the top 0.01% of the oldest living Australians!

Jean Raven’s 107th birthday was celebrated with all the fanfare fitting for such a momentum event, surrounded by her family and extended Infinite Care family at Hahndorf last week.

Jean was born in Murray Bridge in 1916 and grew up in Kimba, SA. She dedicated her life to her family, particularly after her husband passed suddenly at an early age, leaving her to raise their three children alone. She says this is her proudest achievement and shares how close her family still are to this day.

Jean also shared her secrets to longevity, “Early to bed, early to rise, milking cows, climbing trees and playing with three brothers. Taking risks, and a drop of brandy. Mum would always have a bottle of Brandy in the house and would always give us a drop when we felt ill. I carried it through to my children and up to today I still have a nip before I go to sleep.”

When asked about the most important invention of her lifetime, Jean shares how much of a difference electricity made for her family as they no longer had to worry about filling kerosene lanterns. She also recalls the novelty of a flushing toilet after using the long drop as a youngster and emptying the bucket during her married life.

Described as ‘lovingly cheeky’ by staff, Jean has been with us since 2017. Her days are busy too…starting with a good buffet breakfast and a read of the newspaper to stay up to date with current events. Jean does her daily exercises, goes for a walk, eats lunch, and fills her afternoons with lifestyle activities, anything from quizzes to skittles… she loves it all.

We are so inspired by her tenure *puts Brandy on the shopping list*…Happy Birthday Jean!

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