Ken Weeks has celebrated his 113th birthday with his usual routine and a ride on a vintage car. His family organised the trip down memory lane, as they took their beloved grandfather around his old school and other venues he loved.
“The memories are still there, but it takes more time for them to come back. He remembers his childhood really well and his young adulthood well,” his granddaughter Eunice Weeks said.
“When he came out and saw everybody waiting with the vintage car, he said, ‘Oh, it’s all just too much,’ but with a big grin on his face.”
The centenarian, who is currently living at the Whiddon aged care home in Grafton, started the day as usual on October 5, making his own bed and dressing himself, with his grandchildren crediting his longevity to his independence.
“Even now in the nursing home if he can do it for himself, he will want to continue to do that,” Eunice said.
“So, he wants to feed himself, he’s still organising his bed, he knows where all his clothes are and he likes to choose his own clothes.”
To mark the special occasion, staff and fellow residents lined the corridors at the Grafton home as the centenarian went for a birthday drive around town in a vintage car.
Ken is officially Australia’s oldest man and the second oldest in the world, according to LongeviQuest.
This birthday is particularly meaningful, because for the first time he has exchanged greetings with the world’s oldest man, Joao Marinho Neto, who shares the same birthday as him.
Joao from Brazil turned 114, and for the first time the two centenarians greeted each other for their shared birthdays.
“Happy Birthday Joao,” Ken said in a video recorded at the Grafton home.
Ken’s son, Ian, also credits his father’s longevity to a healthy and simple lifestyle.
“He lived a plain simple life, no drinking, no smoking, though he ate white bread. He wasn’t into today’s health stuff, not very much sweet stuff, but it was all plain simple food,” Ian said.
Despite his age, Ken is still agile, although the only thing that has been affected over time is his voice.
“He has trouble talking and he doesn’t speak very well,” Ian said.
Eunice describes her grandfather as gentle, kind, with habits that he has kept even after moving into an aged care home at the age of 105.
His family shared that despite his age he still remains curious.
“He’s also still curious about the world. He still listens to the news and he will have questions about what is going on in the world, so I see his cognitive ability really shining through. He is interested in something beyond his care home and he is still talking about the news and world events,” Eunice said.
“He has this solid faith that God is with him and he will express that ‘God walks with him’ and cares for him, and I think that faith in God is sustaining him, so he is spiritually at peace.”
Image: Whiddon Facebook
