"100 Not Out!"
With forty two guests, including fellow residents, friends and staff, a Sunday dinner for all, at a party thrown by a lady who has taken her on as “mum”; Mrs Dalgarno must be a special lady.
And indeed she is. On 13th November, as she posed with her card from the Queen and waved to her friends, party guests clapped and cheered her entrance. “I am a bit deaf, but not daft,” Mrs Dalgarno joked, “100 not out!”
Ethel Dalgarno has led a colourful life. Experiencing war and not knowing what the world would bring tomorrow, she lived life to the full, knowing just how precious it could be.
A red cross nurse during World War 2, she was stationed at a first aid post in London, tending to minor injuries to take the pressure off the hospitals. Her five year old daughter was evacuated to Devon and she missed her terribly.
Now at 100 years old, Mrs Dalgarno joked and smiled as she looked fondly upon her friends and the staff Lorraine and Ann of Fletcher’s Field who have become like a family to her. Her best friend Connie unfortunately passed away a few years ago and since then Connie’s daughter Julia has taken Mrs Dalgarno under her wing and thinks of her like a mum. The birthday party in the common room of our sheltered scheme where Mrs Dalgarno lives, was thrown by Julia as her present and the food was cooked by our Sheltered Scheme Manager, Lorraine Moger helped by her family Barry, Gavin, Adrian and Elaine and colleagues Ann, Beverley and Beverley’s daughter Kelsie. “I just love her to bits,” Julia shrugged with a grin.
Fletcher’s Field, our sheltered scheme in Liphook with 51 self contained flats, has been open for just over 30 years and Mrs Dalgarno is an original resident! She said she was “thrilled” to have the party thrown for her, where there was a singer, Rachel, performing some of Mrs Dalgarno’s favourite songs.
To find out more about Radian’s sheltered schemes please call 0300 123 1 567 or go to www.radian.co.uk.
