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Bessie Gunn shows how to have a birthday isolation celebration

A 104-year-old Melbourne woman who has already lived through a pandemic has shown how to have an isolation celebration in style on her birthday.

Great-great-grandmother Bessie Gunn has experienced the pain of a pandemic.

She was two years old when her father died of the Spanish flu.

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis she has been keeping socially distant from loved ones at her home at Samarinda Lodge aged care centre in Ashburton, in Melbourne’s east.

The birthday girl Bessie Gunn. Picture: Alex Coppel
The birthday girl Bessie Gunn. Picture: Alex Coppel

But it didn’t deter her celebrations for her 104th birthday on Friday.

There was cake, balloons, dress-ups and relatives singing from her balcony. Mrs Gunn had her hair done especially for the day.

Her daughter Robin Matheson said it was a change from their usual birthday outings but was “as perfect as it could have been given the circumstances”.

“We made it quite festive for her,” she said.

“She enjoyed every minute of it, she didn’t want to go back inside. She loves seeing her family and we were fortunately able to be there, that’s the main thing.”

Mrs Matheson said her mother was grateful for the fuss made for the day.

“She loves a celebration,” she said.

“She’s a goer. She’s always had an extremely positive attitude and I think that’s why she’s still with us.”

Family visits birthday Bessie Gunn at Samarinda Lodge in Ashburton. Picture: Alex Coppel
Family visits birthday Bessie Gunn at Samarinda Lodge in Ashburton. Picture: Alex Coppel

Mrs Matheson said the family was looking forward to the lifting of lockdown restrictions.

“We’re all taking it one day at a time,” she said. “We’re looking for the joy in each day.”

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josh.fagan@news.com.au

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/coronavirus/bessie-gunn-shows-how-to-have-a-birthday-isolation-celebration/news-story/19e7240b926d2b47074c0ec06ef42b35