A WEEKEND of celebrations saw a Shinfield woman mark her centenary in style.
Megan Shaw turned 100 on Friday, July 23, with a party held at the village’s Baptist Church. Family, friends and community stalwarts came along to enjoy afternoon tea and to toast the birthday girl.
The Fairmead Road church held a special coffee morning the day before, and also organised a short ceremony after its Sunday morning service.
Mrs Shaw was delighted with the turn out, and to reach the milestone.
“I’ve been very, very lucky with my life really,” she said. “I count my blessings every day. I go to bed at night and pray and wake up in the morning and thank God for another day.”
She grew up in North Wales, married but lost her husband when she was 54 – “no age really”, she said – and brought up her two children, “they’re good lads”.
“My mother was a Londoner, but my parents were Welsh speakers,” she recalled.
During the Second World War, Mrs Shaw was involved in aircraft inspection.
She remains active, and admitted to playing bowls until she was 72, and says that “I can chatter until the cows come home”.
She also likes to laugh: “There’s no point being miserable, is there?”
Mrs Shaw was relieved to see her birthday card from the Queen: “I was worried I wasn’t going to get it because it didn’t come until (my birthday),” she said. “I thought it was just an ordinary letter, but when I opened it up it was a picture of the Queen.”
And she is grateful to the community at Shinfield Baptist Church for their support to her, particularly during the covid lockdown,
as her family don’t live nearby.
“The church has been a godsend, they’re all brilliant,” she said. “They’re not Bible punchers, I mean we’ve got a wonderful minister, and it’s a joy to belong here.”
As for the secret of her old age, she wonders if it’s something in her genes, while she never smoked.
“I say enjoy life,” she added.
