101-year-old adjusts to her changing world

AuthorJudith Lacy
Published date26 January 2023
Publication titleGuardian, The
A keen royalist, she would like to receive a birthday card from King Charles when she turns 105. She received one from his mother last year when she turned 100

The Palmerston North resident turned 101 on January 10.

Two days before she went out for lunch with her nephew and his wife as they were going away. Since then, she has been taken out for lunch, had visitors or gone visiting. The night before the Manawatū Guardian visited last Friday, Pearce had been taken out for dinner by friends.

Turning 101 seems to have been a drawn-out celebration, she says. Getting to 105 is a “bit special” but 101 is just one added to 100.

Her health is “pretty good” but it takes her a long time in the mornings to get her balance. When she was 93, Pearce broke bones in her right arm. She had a metal cap and steel rod inserted but her shoulder has never stopped aching.

With old age comes aches and pains you learn to live with, she says.

Her philosophy is to take every day as it comes and this also applies to Anzac biscuits.

“I’ve made them for years and they never come out the same twice.”

Pearce was reading the daily paper when this reporter arrived. We talk about post office closures, Kāinga Ora’s building programme, youth crime, the demise of cheques, and roadworks.

Society is totally different now, she says. A lot of children have gone off the rails and many people don’t respect other people’s property. She would like more police on the beat as a deterrent to crime.

“It’s a changing world but you have to learn to adjust to it somehow.”

Pearce is not a fan of the “Happy holidays, Palmy” banner the city council has strung across Broadway Ave. She doesn’t like the moniker Palmy because the place was named Palmerston and says the greeting should be happy Christmas.

Pearce sees the banner on Wednesday afternoons when she volunteers at Trade Aid. She started more than 35 years ago when Trade Aid was by the city council building. Volunteers used a hand-operated cash register and wrote all the sales in a big ledger.

She still enjoys serving customers and says the quality of products has improved a lot over the decades. Chocolate is a big seller; raspberry is her favourite flavour, though passionfruit is very nice.

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