LEE CURRIE CHATS WITH LINDA MCARTHUR WHO, AT 100 YEARS OLD, IS STILL GOING WITH THE FLOW
It’s a well researched fact that as we grow older, our short-term memory becomes … well … shorter, yet we will often remember our early days with clarity. Mount Edgecombe resident Linda McArthur recently turned 100 years old, and while she may battle to remember recent events, her days as a young woman are recalled with some clarity. Special moments too are held snugly in her century of memories.
Born Linda Stuart in Benoni, this gracious South African’s roots go quite deep; her mother was from an Afrikaans farming family that lost their farm during the Anglo Boer War – destroyed in the scorched earth policy of the British Government. Her father was a New Zealander who came here on business (to purchase a horse, says Linda) and stayed. The family moved to Sea Point in the Cape when Linda was a small child.
Her face lights up as she recalls her youth in Sea Point, living a road away from the beach. “We were a sociable group of youngsters and would meet at the Pavilion which was on the beach. We’d all go dancing on Saturday nights at the Bordeaux Hotel which was owned by one of our gang’s parents.” It was here that she met Hugh McArthur, her future husband.
For Linda they were heady, carefree days until World War II began to cast a shadow on the friends. “It was a frightening time,” she recalls. “The group pretty much broke up. Hugh joined the army, and was injured, spending time in hospital. We were married in 1944.”
In 1951 the couple moved to Somerset West to join Linda’s parents in a farming enterprise. Their three children – Stuart, Jennifer and Glenn – were born and raised on the farm.
Over the years Linda has travelled (loved Alaska), been an avid philatelist, accomplished piano player and yoga enthusiast. Sadly both her sight and hearing have more recently precluded her from these pursuits.
Her life has certainly not been without its stresses though daughter Jennifer Johnson says she has played them down. She was attacked and restrained by intruders on the farm in Somerset West, but fortunately left unharmed. Inherited jewellery and other precious mementos were stolen. “For my mom the experience was life- changing,” she confides.
Today she lives in Mount Edgecombe close to her children, two grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Once an enthusiastic walker, she still manages to walk 12 “laps” around her patio and garden which borders a pond.
The centenarian’s remarkably unlined complexion elicits many comments. She could easily pass for someone 20 years younger, yet she has no beauty secrets – other than “never going to bed without removing her make-up”. Genetics also play a part as she recalls that her mother had a beautiful skin into her late 80s. She says she loves trying different foods and can’t understand why anyone would deprive themselves of chocolate.
Her favourite saying? Just go with the flow – perhaps a philosophy for all of us?