There’s a letter from the Queen coming for May Cowman.
The long-time Melton resident will be 100 next Friday and says she would prefer to her keep her birthday low key – but everyone who loves her have other plans.
May was born on April 13, 1918 in Shepparton and moved to Melbourne when she married her childhood sweetheart Keith at 19.
The couple settled in Pascoe Vale and later moved to Melton.
She says they led a very private life.
“We were fortunate to have lifelong friends … wherever we set up home, but we were very private and kept to ourselves,” May said.
May lost her husband, who was also a centenarian, after 78 years of marriage in 2015.
Her son Barrie visits her at Willowbrae-Melton Aged Care every day and describes his mum and “an absolute darling”.
Mr Cowman puts his mum’s longevity down to her love of word searches.
“It keeps her mind sharp,” he said.
“I’ve been running out of books for mum so I’ve been printing pages and pages of word searches from the internet for her … it doesn’t matter what time of day you visit … she’s always got one.”
