AS his ninetieth birthday approached, Ernie Wintle knew there would be some fun in store.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughters were going to organise to take me somewhere as a surprise, with family and friends,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But when COVID-19 arrived with its own societal surprises, plans changed, and although he needed to stay home to keep himself and others safe, alternative joyful celebrations were arranged by his \u201cclose\u201d family.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughters rang me up and said, \u2018dad, you\u2019ll be on the laptop.\u2019 So as it turned out, my 90th birthday was the first time I\u2019d seen everyone on the computer like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
With cupcakes and lamingtons, Mr Wintle recently went live on Zoom for his special day, having a hoot over afternoon tea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it came on, there were my three daughters and sons in law, my two grandsons and my granddaughter, all on this big screen, including me,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were there for a couple of hours, and a couple of other relations came on out of the blue. It was terrific.<\/p>\n
\u201cA day which looked like being a very silent sort of a day, because of lockdown, turned out fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
A treasured letter arrived from his middle daughter, based in Melbourne, and was a highlight of the occasion. Her writing reminisced on life growing up as a Wintle girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a real story of family. It was all memories. She spoke about things I told them, and things we did together when they were little girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stopped a couple of times with tears in my eyes and I couldn\u2019t read it,\u201d Mr Wintle said.<\/p>\n
Although he wasn\u2019t able to see some family and friends for over two months, Mr Wintle is happily independent in his own home, with two of his daughters living close enough to be neighbours.<\/p>\n
He knows he\u2019s always got the trusty telephone to catch up, and share the love with his network of supporters, even if he can\u2019t be with all of them face-to-face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may not see a friend often, but you\u2019ll never forget a true friend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have my family, I have my friends and my health. I can laugh, and if I drop a tear, it\u2019s not for sadness, but for how lucky I am.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re the things you can\u2019t buy. What more can I ask for?\u201d<\/p>\n
At a time where many things are uncertain, Mr Wintle knows one thing for sure. He may be a 90-year-old man, but he does not feel like one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think of it as a score. I\u2019ve still got my whole life ahead of me and I\u2019m doing all the same things, just slower,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AS his ninetieth birthday approached, Ernie Wintle knew there would be some fun in store. \u201cMy daughters were going to organise to take me somewhere as a surprise, with family and friends,\u201d he said. But when COVID-19 arrived with its own societal surprises, plans changed, and although he needed to stay home to keep himself […]<\/p>\n