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91ƵIt just happened91Ƶ: B.C. woman celebrates her 100th birthday

While sporting a party hat reading 91Ƶeternal youth,91Ƶ Elizabeth Viens said there91Ƶs no trick to living a long life

According to Langley senior Elizabeth Viens, turning 100-years-old is no big deal.

91ƵIt just happened I guess,91Ƶ she said of her centennial birthday.

Viens turned 100 on Jan. 17, and the retirement home she resides in 91Ƶ Chartwell Langley Gardens 91Ƶ threw a birthday bash on Thursday, Jan. 31, complete with entertainment, beverages, cake, and decor.

91ƵIt91Ƶs been so good the last while, but it91Ƶs been awful at the same time,91Ƶ said Viens of her old age.

At 100, she91Ƶs quite healthy, despite a few earlier 91Ƶbroken bones, and a broken hip.91Ƶ

But according to Viens, there91Ƶs no secret to living a long life.

91ƵI91Ƶm not one to give any advice,91Ƶ she laughed.

Born in Scotland, Viens explained that her large family moved to the Canadian prairies when she was only nine.

91ƵI91Ƶve spent 90 years in Canada. I moved here when I was nine years old. We have a big family, so we thought it was a better place to be. We scattered all across Canada.91Ƶ

Throughout her life, Viens had no children of her own, and married 91Ƶlate in life91Ƶ to her husband George, who passed away in 2007.

She met George at a dance mixer in Nanaimo, when he asked her for a dance.

91ƵHe was known around there anyways, and his wife had died a few months before that,91Ƶ Viens explained.

George worked at a steel plant, and the couple married when Viens was 40.

Twelve years of Viens91Ƶ life was spent in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and two years ago she moved to the Lower Mainland to be closer to her sister.

Viens explained she 91Ƶnever got much of an education,91Ƶ so in her working years, she took up jobs 91Ƶall over the place,91Ƶ doing things like housekeeping and babysitting.

91ƵWe didn91Ƶt have the jobs they have now,91Ƶ she added.

In her free time, Viens said she kept busy with hobbies.

91ƵI filled my life with lots of hobbies. My husband did the same. Knitting cushions, bowling, rollerskating, all the exercises.91Ƶ

The Scottish senior had a passion for travelling, and said she went back to Scotland many times, in addition to new places.

91ƵI went on a round trip with a girlfriend. We went to Australia, to Sydney. We worked there for six months, then moved on to other places. I went back to Scotland, and across Europe, and to France.91Ƶ

Some of her favourite memories throughout her long life have been 91Ƶthe get-togethers.91Ƶ

While wearing her birthday hat, Viens said 91ƵI don91Ƶt think I deserve all this,91Ƶ and explained she had a family birthday party earlier in the month with many relatives.

And good health seems to run in Viens91Ƶ family, as she explained both her sister and mother lived until they were 90.

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Elizabeth Viens celebrated her 100th birthday, complete with a party hat reading 91Ƶeternal youth91Ƶ and a birthday sash. Miranda Fatur Black Press Media




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