Celebrating your 100th birthday is a unique occasion. However, what do you do when you find there is another person who shares the same date of birth as you and lives in the same small Angus village?
Well, you get together with a few family members and toast the remarkable anomaly with some sparkling wine.
That is what Hilda Jamieson and Nellie Easson from Newtyle did this week when the two women celebrated their 100th birthday together.
The ladies have walked the same streets as each other for 50 years but never knew they shared the same date of birth until recently.
As they both geared up for a weekend of celebration with up to five generations of family and friends from across the globe, the ladies met at Mrs Jamieson’s home to wish each other a very special happy birthday.
Mrs Jamieson, an ex-DC Thomson employee who still goes skiing and swimming, said: “I think it’s quite a unique occasion. I thought ‘what the devil is all the fuss about because there must be so many people coming up for 100 now’.
“But then I thought about it and I realised that this village is very small and it is amazing to have two people reach their 100th birthday on the same day.”
Both women were born on August 23 1913. They have witnessed two world wars, countless governments and have become the heads of their own very large families.
Mrs Jamieson was born in Broughty Ferry and Mrs Easson in Scone but their lives intertwined 50 years ago when the former moved to Newtyle.
Mrs Easson has lived in the village for almost 80 years after she moved there following her marriage to local man Jock Easson, who owned an agricultural contractor’s business in the area.
Hilda moved to the area in 1963 but the two ladies did not become aware of each other until Mrs Jamieson found out about their shared birth date and delivered a pleasant passing “happy birthday” to Mrs Easson as she worked in her garden.
Both women agreed they never imagined a day such as today.
Mrs Jamieson said: “It’s amazing. I think the key to a long life is that you must like people and like meeting people. Never bear any grudges.”
Mrs Easson said: “I’ve not really heard of anything like this before. I think it’s a one-off.”
The formidable pair have kept their lives as active as they were in their fifties.
A keen skier in her youth, Mrs Jamieson was an avid member of the Dundee Ski Club and was on the slopes as recently as March this year.
Mrs Jamieson also loved her job as a reporter with several titles across DC Thomson’s publishing platforms and still cherishes her note pad.
Similarly, Mrs Easson has continued on her own passions and still loves nothing more than tending to her garden and watching her family grow.
She now has seven grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
The ladies will celebrate their birthdays with family and friends across the weekend, no doubt displaying an energy and enthusiasm that belies their grand age.