On Friday 16th October, Nancy Stewart from Clonard, Co. Meath, celebrates her 107th birthday. She is Ireland’s oldest lady living in her own home surrounded by great love and care.
Nancy has written a letter about her life which you can read below.
We congratulation Nancy on this very special occasion and wish her continued health and happiness as she enters her 108th year.
“My name is Nancy Stewart and I was born on the 16th of October 1913. This weekend I turn 107 years of age. Imagining turning 107 in a world pandemic. This definitely is something very unusual even for me and all I have been through.
I live in Clonard in county Meath and have lived in my home for over 83 years. I lost my husband in a car crash in 1989, and lost my twin daughters Margaret in 2007 to motor neurone and Anne in 2010 to utter heartbreak of losing her sister. I’ve lost all my friends throughout the years which comes with living so long on this earth. I’m very lucky to still have three daughters Kathleen, Mary and Olive and one son Finian and I have 84 grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. I have faced many heartbreaking moments and also have seen many hard times in our country witnessing world war’s, division in our people and numerous sad times for our nation.
I write to you today to send you my love and to offer you my prayers. I know you are here participating in mass on your phone or on your computer and in a very different way than we are used to since we were moved into a new stage of the virus. But I promise you, we will get back to our seats in the church when everything is safe again. I thank you for keeping your faith through this hard time. I’m very lucky to have been given a great faith by my parents many years ago and I have kept it all these years. I believe in God above, Mary and Joseph and little baby Jesus. I also have a great faith in St. Anthony, Padre Pio and of course my little flower St. Theresa. It’s not easy to keep your faith these days. We are in a very hard time where we no longer can stretch out to a friend and embrace them nor can we call to each other’s houses. But i’m here to share my story. I have been in lockdown in my house since March, alongside my granddaughter Louise and even though it has been a tough time, we have got through it together. We drink tea. We say prayers. We bake. We laugh. We make phone calls. I can even video call lots of my family and friends and am making new friends everyday that God gives me on this earth. And that’s a very important thing to say. If you are feeling low, make sure to try call someone or even go for a walk. I also ask God to help me if I’m feeling low. This is a hard time for everyone but please make sure you keep yourself well and wear your mask. If you keep healthy, your mind will stay healthy too. Keep talking to one another. Keep talking to God. He’s always there. All my life I have always believed in chatting and drinking tea and saying a prayer or a decade of the rosary and it has got me through. This is our moment to keep our faith and to keep believing that God above is looking out for us. And not to forget if he can’t help us in the moment, we can try our best to help each other and know that he will help us through when the moment is right. I just want to thank you today for keeping your faith and never forget that no good deed goes unnoticed. We must always try help each other as best we can. We are not here to live for ourselves but to live for each other. I can’t believe I’ve made it to this age, I only feel like i’m fifty but now that i’m here, all I can say is please god I’ll be here for my next birthday. We must always look forward. I can’t believe I’m the oldest person in Ireland living in my own home, I don’t feel that old. When God wants me, he will come take me but for now I will keep enjoying my life, I’ll keep loving my family and I’ll keep saying my prayers day by day…..oh and not to forget eating lots of good wholesome food is my tip. Good food and lots of tea is my secret to a long life as well as keeping positive as best we can. We must always look forward and make sure we don’t leave anyone behind. Hard times will come but we must try help each other. Thank you for thinking of me today in your prayers and I promise I will think of you in my many rosaries I say everyday. Thank you Fr. and all the priests who keep all the parishes going. Your work will be rewarded in Heaven and please God, down here too, you will feel our appreciation for your life’s work.
To all who are listening to me today, keep believing and keep being good. This hard time will indeed pass like all the rest and all that matters is that we helped each other through.
Many blessings and much love,
Granny Nancy x “
If you might like to hear more about Nancy or contact her, videos of this 107 year old lady can be viewed on www.facebook.com/livingandlaughingwithlou .
This is a lovely video that EWTN made on the 23rd of June of this year ( just under 2million views) :
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=494110894697042&extid=8dyyE5B2uk9gbDye