President Eddie Fenech Adami and Mrs Fenech Adami, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, as well as Health Minister Louis Deguara and the Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly and Community Care Helen D’Amato visited St Vincent de Paul yesterday morning on the occasion of Ines Spiteri’s 100th birthday celebration.

A Mass was celebrated in her honour, attended by all the other residents of St Vincent de Paul’s old people’s home, followed by the cutting of a large birthday cake, and a reception for those present.

Ines was well aware of the fact she was being celebrated and she was happy to be introduced to the dignitaries present for the occasion.

Ines’s daughter Mary Spiteri told us that her father Joseph died in 1942 during the Second World War when she was a mere three-month old baby, which meant that she was raised single-handedly by her mother.

However they lived with her grandmother in Kalkara, and also had the support of Ines’s older sister and brother. Although these have now passed on, Ines has three nieces and a nephew based in Australia, who called to wish her birthday greetings and also sent her a bouquet of flowers on the occasion.

“Coming here every day means a lot to me, and I enjoy it very much. I come to see my mother every single day of the week, and looking after her gives me a lot of satisfaction. Besides I now feel like one of the staff, they are very friendly and I love the other residents staying here too. In fact I jokingly call them ‘my children’ and help them out whenever I can,” said Ines’s daughter Ms Mary Spiteri. “We have had a very simple life,” she added.

A simple life, yet a loving one, shown by her sheer dedication and joy at celebrating her mother’s 100 Birthday.