Sex, dancing and love are the key ingredients to a long life, says a Ā鶹AV woman who celebrated her 100th birthday Saturday.
āIn a way, I think 100-years-old is living too long ā itās OK to live that way if youāre rich and very healthy, otherwise itās the pits,ā said Fernande Bertrand, who lives at The Dorchester in Ā鶹AV.
āBut maybe, I lived that long because maybe I did it my way,ā she said. āEverything I did in my life I did with fun and love and joy. Every day I was happy, I love life, I love children, I love family.ā
To Bertrand, sex is the number one secret to longevity.
āI donāt know how people do it, have no love and no sex in their lifeā¦ if you donāt like one boyfriend you get another one if you donāt like one husband then get another one,ā she said.
Bertrand has always been energetic, said granddaughter Lisa Calvert.
āI was 89 years old when I moved to Quebec City for five months and there was a big dance and music and everything,ā said Bertrand.
She danced until early in the morning.
Living in Ottawa for most of her life, she was married to George Bertrand for 30 years and had six children. A resident of Ā鶹AV for more than 20 years, Bertrand was born in Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, Quebec in 1918 and worked as a nanny for rich politicians in the ā60s in Ottawa. She also volunteered with Childrenās Aid Society, caring for babies.
āI loved to give love and get love, I think in life thatās really the thing. In life thatās how it is, I donāt care if itās sexually or not,ā she said.
Bertrand moved to the Central Okanagan in the 1990s for the warmer climate and to be with family. She volunteered at the Seniors Outreach for more than 10 years.
āShe helped older people and she was already in her ā80s,ā said daughter Lucy Anderson. āShe was basically a teenage 80-year-old.ā
Bertrand also travelled to Spain for four or five months to meet her companion after her husband passed.
āWeād dance on the street when I think of thatā¦ we were so free,ā said Bertrand āI had so much energy I didnāt know what to do with itā¦ If I donāt spend that with dancing, Iād spent it with some boyfriend.ā
They kept each other young and had a good time together, said her son Marcel Bertrand.
She was also active in the Ā鶹AV community. Bertrand admired Ā鶹AVās former mayor Walter Grey, who installed a bus stop for her after she phoned his office.
āHe took time for me and called me back and told me the (stop) was going to be delayed, as if I was someone very important,ā she said.
Unafraid of controversy, she wrote letters to the newspapers in Ā鶹AV.
āI usually talk, express myself the way I thinkā¦ honesty, maybe thatās why they published (them),ā she said.
Bertrandās family, many of whom live in the Central Okanagan, attended her birthday, Jan. 27
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