Family come together to help Luise celebrate her 100th birthday
It was a day of celebration for Luise Bayley as she celebrated her 100th birthday with family.
Luise was treated to cards and presents from her son, Harald, and great-great-grandchildren, Lily and Jude Avery, on her birthday on December 21.
Her son Harald had come over from Austria to see his mother, who was born on December 21, 1921, in Spittal an der Drau, in Carinthia, Austria.
He said it had been sad to see his mother bedridden through illness, but also said she was very pleased to see her family on her birthday.
Harald said: "It was sad to see her in that state and I know she wouldn't like the situation she is in, but I could see she was overjoyed to see us and was able to enjoy her day.
"She's a real survivor, my mother, always has been, and it was great to be able to come over and see her on her 100th birthday as I didn't know whether I would be able to do so."
Luise came to the UK in 1948, having met her future husband, William, in Leoben, in Styria, when he was part of the British occupational force after the Second World War.
The couple married in 1948, with Luise becoming a British citizen, and lived in Ettingshall, with William working as a motor engineer at Wessons Steel in Moxley.
Luise found work at the Morris Springs Company and was able to bring over her 13-year-old son Harald from Austria in 1951, before the family settled into life together in the Black Country before William's death in 2005, aged 80.
Harald, who lives in Leibnitz in the south of Austria, still makes regular trips to see his mother and said it meant to a lot to be there for her 100th birthday.
He also spoke about what was the secret to her long life.
"My mother never really drank or went out to clubs or anything like that, so I think the secret is the fact she drank a couple of cups of tea each day," he said.
