Resident celebrates 90th birthday
Thornhill Manor retirement village resident, Hylda Skutelsky celebrated her 90th birthday.
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Skutelsky was born and raised in Johannesburg and although she is nearing the 100-year mark, one would not say she’s a day older than 60.
She told the North Eastern Tribune that her life took a complete about turn when she lost her husband 38 years ago, and soon after that her job. She said, “I was devastated after losing my husband and for almost 12 years afterwards, I didn’t really live, but merely went through the motions.”
She said the universe stepped in and she decided to change her career. “I retrained as a therapist and counsellor and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since,” said Skutelsky who also spent 21 years as a Hospice counsellor.
To date, she still takes calls from many former clients and she assists others where she can.
She has two daughters and three grandchildren.
Skutelsky said it was when she was 78 years old that she heard about Thornhill Manor from a friend who asked her to just go and have a look at the retirement village. She said, “I lived in a duplex at the time and was not planning on moving out, but I went to look anyway. They were still building the cottages at the time, but as soon as I saw them I just knew that I could live here. That was 12 years ago and now I bless the day that I came to live here,” she said.
As far as the secrets to her youth were concerned, Hylda believed that yoga, which she still practises every day, had a huge role to play.