Home, sweet home, for Eunice on her 105th birthday

A card from the King offers a clue but another from Her Majesty the Queen five years earlier gives the game away

For the small family party at a Whittlesey nursing home was there to celebrate the 105^th birthday of a resident, Eunice Hobbs.

Eunice moved to the New Road care home four years after finally deciding that, at the age of 101, it was time to give up her own home in Stanmore, London.

“She had a fall and ended up in hospital,” said her niece, Margaret Cripps. “From there she moved to the nursing home.”

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Margaret picked Cedar Court for its reputation and closeness to her Whittlesey home.

“I have been going to visit and look after my aunt for many years,” she said.

“She was a widow for 50 years and over the 10 years prior to moving to Whittlesey the time I spent there had increased.”

Although now mainly bedridden, Eunice was able to join family members for a birthday party in the Cedar Court conservatory.

“My sisters came up from Wales and Cirencester and my niece and my sons came and saw her with their children,” said Margaret.

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And with Covid restrictions lifted, the family could have a long awaited get together.

Margaret described her aunt as “still very independent and as nurses said she is a lady and very polite; she has only ever pressed her bell once for them.”

She has fond memories of her aunt in London, and her determination to stay living in the family home.

“But as the years passed, I did notice things, such as she used to crawl up stairs and crawl back down”.

And she also recalls that on visits to her aunt there could occasionally be a ladder next to her chair.

“She would leave the ladder under a light bulb for me to change it,” says Eunice. “Or she would leave out a bill to ensure it got dealt with.”

But life in Whittlesey has turned out well for her aunt.

“She loves not having to worry,” says Margaret. “She has everything she needs and is very happy here.”