Ask a 97 year old Mumsnet fan

[Pebbles16]

My 97 year old great aunt is a fan of Mumsnet and has asked me to post. Warning: she will likely be in bed by 9.30
Me: should we do this in the am?
GA: No, if people ask ?s overnight, it will give us something to do...

Hey ho
So, some background to my GA: she was born in Shanghai; was interned in WW2; lived in the Far East until 1970 when she was widowed. Moved to the UK and HAS NEVER adjusted to the weather; this summer is the only time she's mentioned "it's a bit warm".
She has learned multiple languages over the years.
Did not have children (likely as a result of the prison camp conditions).
Spent most of her life advocating for children affected by war.
Cheats at most board games.
Mocks my tolerance to chillies.

So, ask us anything!

Has she had enough yet? My great aunt lived to 99 and much as she still enjoyed life and had all her faculties, she’d lost every single one of her friends as well as her siblings, her cousins and her son. She was ready and accepting of not waking up one day.

GA thanks you for flowers

I will eat a horse, I have eaten horse...I know you are not supposed to say that.
I have eaten things which I would not recommend but when you are hungry you turn a blind eye.
My favourite foods are from my past because when I came to the UK there was "Chinese" but nothing I ever recognised. I am so lucky now because all the ingredients are in the supermarkets.

She also mentions that she secretly likes porridge with salt but not to mention that because everyone is always "banging on" about porridge (therefore she feigns hatred!)

What’s her favourite tipple?

Why does she cheat at board games? My MiL, who would be her age of she was still alive, drove me completely crazy cheating at board games!

What's the point of winning a board game by cheating?

A sensitive question so OP I’ll leave you to consider if it’s appropriate to ask.

Would your GA share her experiences in the camps? I ask as my GF was in Burma for most of the war and didn’t speak about for decades.

The family thought it was something he didn’t want to revisit but I (innocently) asked about a a young teen and he told me he was glad I asked as he felt it was important history to share but thought nobody wanted to hear (in fact family were worried about upsetting him).

My lovely MiL is 96 and told my husband today that she feels like going to bed with her pills and a bottle of whisky. She won't because she is religious but she has lost nearly all her friends, most of her family and her body - not her mind - is giving up on her. Her DH died about ten years ago and I am amazed that she has made it this far. They had such a long and happy marriage and he did all the financial and practical stuff. She is now leaning on my DH a lot but they moved when they retired so are not close by whcih makes it hard. I am early 50's but not sure I want to live that long myself.....

She's the same age as my mum!

What are her chief memories of Shanghai before the war? Was she interned with both her parents, or was her father interned separately?

Me slightly chuckling when I ask this question...(my answers are in brackets)

GA: Waking up and being alive - that's a good start
Tea, you know that. Two cups of tea before I have to speak to anyone.
Doing the puzzles (Wordle, Sudoku, Globe and Alpgaguess as a minimum)
Watching the news (and shouting at the stupidity of people in charge). Looking things up online, like the Third Age stuff I've been doing or the Open University.
Lunch
Doing some pottering in the garden - I love to weed. Even in this heat the weeds are all over
Having tea and chatting with people. But mostly the staff, I find old people so boring.
Reading I suppose... I don't know sometimes because there seems so much to do. Writing letters to MPs and trying to learn more about the world. It's busy.

I wish I spent more time with my husband but that wasn't my choice because he died when I was 40

Gin and it with gin

Please say a big hi to your aunt and ask her what she wishes she had known at 50?

My grandmother lived to 97 and she was an amazing woman, I am
so glad I had her though she sadly had advanced dementia by that age…

Just to add re: my GF one (of many aspects) that was sad/shocking and I don’t think widely known, is that when they were cut off in 1942 he and many other soldiers had to walk 2,000 miles to get to allied territory - a journey where many died of malnutrition and malaria (which impacted his health for the rest of his life). I’m not sure many people today really understand what that generation faced.

Well it depends on your definition of "the night". In the summer it is easy because the night is only 10 till 4.
I do sleep well but have to get up a couple of times in the night.
Sometimes I will wake up at 5 and think I'm awake and then the next thing I know it's 8. Those aren't my better days.

This is a really good question because it's a conversation we have been having today.
Most of her dreams are when she was married - so 20-40. I think it was her happiest time.

What does GA think about the changes to our culture and country over her lifetime? What are the positives and the negatives?

Does it feel strange to be a ‘representative’ of her generation, now there are so few left?

from me too. I'm a MN fan, and now a GA fan too. It's wonderful that she has such interest in and enthusiasm about life now, as well as her knowledge of the past, which must be huge! I'm in awe of her ability to learn languages.

No question, though I'm really enjoying her answers to others. How do we nominate this thread to classics?!

Keep your mind young and active. I know that it's not possible for everyone but stay interested as much as you can. And be prepared for loss. That is hard but I have found that human relationships are fleeting.

My husband. Being married was the happiest time of my life.

Because it was the only thing I could win!

No questions but I think your great aunt is an amazing woman 💐🙏❤️

OMG I think this might be my favourite mumsnet thread ever.

please ask AGA (amazing great aunt) what her most bittersweet memory is and also to share her favourite quality of her great nieces (you!)

Are you looking forward to your birthday card from the King?

What is her favourite TV programme currently?

Okay, this is me translating GA because I cannot type fast enough on this subject.
She didn't fear anything as a small child but was interned at 12 - as an older child there was WW2 which was terrifying. She now doesn't fear war at all because "it will be over in a blink of an eye". That is nuclear war and she wishes to stand in the middle of Trafalgar Square and be "immediately zapped". This has been her stance since the Cold War.
She worries, rather than fears, about "ridiculous toxic men taking over" - Trump, Bezos, Tate etc. She worries that Gilead will become a reality "and it only takes one place to take it on before it spreads. That's how the Nazis started"

When I write this, I realise how wise she is, which is why I started this thread

Thanks Great Aunt and niece.
What era does she think had the best fashion?

Does your GA post on MN? I bet she would write wisely!