Florida woman celebrated a century in style
She had a birthday party surrounded by friends and family
A resident at the Waterval Retirement Home, Joyce Momberg, recently had the privilege of celebrating her 100th birthday.
Her milestone birthday was on 16 January, but she had to wait until the afternoon of 22 January to celebrate it with her loved ones, in the form of a very special birthday party.
While she blew out the candles on her birthday cake, accompanied by the echoing notes of ‘Happy birthday to you’, she was surrounded by two of her three children, two of her seven grandchildren, as well as three of her eight great-grandchildren,
Joyce was born in Krugersdorp, and has been a resident at the home for almost 20 years now. “She and my dad, Joe, lived in Randfontein and Floracliffe. They moved to the home together, but my dad passed away in 2007,” said Allan Momberg, Joyce’s son.
He added that both his parents were keen Rotarians, and were the Presidential couple of the Randfontein Rotary Club. “They also both loved to play golf, and my mom was very active in the Florida Anglican Church, where she did the flowers for them until she was almost 80,” he said.
Allan said that his mother’s incredible determination is something that he admires very much and explained, “When she turned 98, she broke her hip. Six months later, she got up one night to get some chocolate, and broke the same leg, but, being who she is, she decided that she would not let that get her down, and she learned to walk again (even though it is with the aid of a walker). She was hellbent on getting to 100, and, here we are today, celebrating her determination.”
He said that, even though she is 100 years old, she still visits the hairdresser every week and participates in group outings at least once a month. “Mom does her own make-up, and loves to dress nicely. We even had a little disagreement over the right colour handbag for her outfit today in the elevator on our way to the party!” he said, laughing.
Kim Mendelowitz, Joyce’s daughter, added that even though she was not too sure how much Joyce would remember of the day, she was pretty sure that she would be talking about her party for a long time.
But what is her secret to a long and happy life? “It is simple, one whiskey every evening, some chocolate and a healthy dose of determination,” said Allan.
“It is very nice for us to be here, and we are proud to be able to celebrate our mother’s 100th birthday with her. And having quite a large number of her family members and friends with her made it much more special for her,” Allan concluded.
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