Peninsula's oldest resident celebrates 106th birthday
The Peninsula's oldest resident Ms Biddy Abrahams has celebrated her 106th birthday.
The Peninsula Villages resident spent her birthday at the Umina aged care facility.
A Peninsula resident since the 1980s, she has lived at Peninsula Villages for over eight years, where she has her own space and spends time with her knitting, crochet and embroidery.
Biddy Abrahams was born on February 24, 1917, under the bridge at Warren, about 120 kilometres north of Dubbo.
"My mother decided to go for a swim and I decided it was time to jump out," Ms Abrahams said.
Biddy was raised by her grandparents and spent the first 14 years of her life either droving sheep or being fostered out when times were difficult.
At the age of 14, she was sent to a private school in Eastwood where she received four years of education then later trained to be a nursery help for a nanny.
In 1941, she joined the Women's Land Army.
Initially, she picked cabbages and fruit before being transferred into a role where she delivered mail to different farms.
"Because I didn't know how to ride a bike, I was given a horse to complete my rounds," she recalled.
Ms Abrahams looks back at this time in her life fondly as it gave her an opportunity to be back in the bush, acting resourcefully and feeling valued.
After the war, she became a cook at the Tresillian Home for unwed mothers in Vaucluse and later worked at David Jones.
She met her husband Eric after the war, dating him for six years before marrying.
Together, they travelled around Australia and enjoyed many a holiday to Umina Beach.
They retired to Umina in the early 1980s.
SOURCE:
Media release, 28 Feb 2023
Nicola Leggat, Brilliant Logic