A story full of losses and beginnings. The oldest woman of Berounska is celebrating her one hundred and third birthday

Mrs. Marie can take care of herself, remembers everything, is healthy and likes to play cards. It’s just harder for her to hear, but thanks to the hearing aid, she doesn’t mind at all. It even controls a smartphone. Her apartment was decorated with two beautiful bouquets at the time of our visit. “I received one bouquet from the mayor of Tmaná, Jaromír Frühling, and 103 roses from the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and the Pensioners’ Club from Darkly. I was invited to the theater performance Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart, where my granddaughter accompanied me. The parish priest congratulated me with the actor after the service Jan Přeučil,” boasted the birthday girl, who was born on May 6, 1921 in Prague.

Marie Barbora Františka Stichová with her parents.Source: with the consent of Marie Štichová

Life was not kind to Mrs. Maria. “I had a brother seven years older. When I was seven years old and we spent the holidays with my grandfather, he drowned. He was a good swimmer so it was a big blow for everyone. My parents were very worried about me,” Marie recalled. The next blow came at the age of thirteen. “The day before Christmas, dad told me that we would go shopping for a present for mom in the morning. But he didn’t wake up in the morning. He died. He was fifty-three years old and I was thirteen. My mother and I were left alone. Since she never went to work, the lady of the house offered her to become a housekeeper and clean her house. We then had the rent for free,” she confided. Marie wanted to become a teacher, but since her mother would not have the money for her studies, she trained as a seamstress.

From a tailor shop to a savings bank

Opposite the house in Prague’s Žižkov where she lived was a dairy. There she met her future husband, who was the sports editor of Svobodné slova. And since they wanted to live together, they got married. “I was eighteen, so they had to make me of age. Back then, we didn’t come of age until we were twenty-one,” she explained. The husband got an apartment from the editors, where Marie and her mother moved. At twenty-three, Maria had a son, Otakar Karel. After maternity leave, she did not return to the tailor shop where she worked, but went to the post office. “I spent three years there. And thanks to a neighbor’s recommendation, I got into a savings bank, where I worked all my life. I retired at seventy-five,” she smiled. “He still meets with former colleagues who are a generation younger. I drive her to see them in Žižkov,” added granddaughter Renáta Grygarová.

Marie Barbora Františka Stichová with her first husband.Source: with the consent of Marie Štichová

However, Marie lived with her husband for only nineteen years. He died of colon cancer. “I took care of him until the last moment. The second husband also died of cancer. We only lived together for three years. And unfortunately my son Otakar also left me. He died of cancer at the age of fifty-six, like his father,” she added sadly. But after the grieving phase, she told herself that God had left her here, so she had to live on. Maria is now being looked after by her granddaughter. “Until 2013, my grandmother lived alone in a Prague apartment. But she broke her leg in her neck and was completely out of action for three months after the operation. But she’s an incredible fighter, so everything went back to normal after she recovered. But after the operation, she walked with a walker and there was no elevator in the house, so I arranged a place for her in the Nursing Home in Tmani. At first they did not want to accept her, that she is already 93 years old and they would like someone for a longer period of time. And she has been living here for 10 years and is very happy,” boasted the granddaughter, who lives with her husband in Temptinglyso it’s not far behind grandma.

For surgery at 101 years old

The year 2022 was critical for Maria, when doctors discovered a tumor in her intestine. It was so big that her intestines were practically impassable. “Nobody wanted to operate on her at 101 years old. Doctors believed that such a large tumor would surely have metastases, which was not confirmed. In the end, Dr. Černohorský operated on her at Na Homolce Hospital, for which we are extremely grateful to him. But shortly after that, the grandmother broke her other leg in the neck, followed by another anesthesia and a long recovery. This time too, she spread her legs. And since then, grandma has been healthy as a turnip. Only his hearing is worse. He can’t hear in one ear and has a hearing aid in the other. She had otitis media about four times in her childhood,” noted Renáta. Together with her granddaughter and her husband, Marie likes to go on trips. They use a wheelchair so that Marie does not get tired and enjoys the trip.

Marie Barbora Františka Stichová is celebrating her 103rd birthday.Source: Diary/Jana Hájíčková

“Last year we visited Lány castle. When the tour guide told about the funeral of father Masaryk, the grandmother took her word that she was also at the funeral. Everyone wanted to hear her memories,” laughed Renáta, who bought her grandmother a special safety watch. If Marie falls, the watch will alert her granddaughter immediately. He can communicate with his grandmother through them, or he can alert Maria to take her medicine. “They are priceless and they only cost 3,500 crowns,” she revealed. And what, according to Renata, is the recipe for longevity? “Grandma is always optimistic, always in a good mood and actually always looking ahead. She regularly plays cards and rummy games with her friends from home, which she enjoys very much. She solves crosswords and her three great-grandchildren also make her happy,” said the birthday girl’s granddaughter.