Nana, 90, to mark birthday by dancing for charity for 90 minutes
Covid-19 has not taken any spring from the step of one great grand-mother who plans to dance for charity to mark her 90th birthday.
The virus means that Kathleen Lynch is cocooning with her husband Donnie (94) and plans for a family weekend away to mark her 90th had to be postponed.
The couple loves dancing and Kathleen said, “we met at a dance in The Pavilion Ballroom in Blackrock in 1949 and he asked me to dance.”
She will dance for a total of 90 minutes spread throughout the day, May 1.
She will dance for one minute for each of her years and said, “anything and everything goes, I love all types of dancing.”
Their son Donal said, on behalf of the family, “they were always dancing and were always first on the floor at weddings.”
Music runs in the family and one of their grandchildren is the music producer and DJ Matador.
With their family - four children, 13 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren - the plan had been to spend a celebratory weekend at a hotel, which included dancing after dinner, but then Covid-19 arrived.
Instead, Kathleen decided to use her love of dancing to raise funds for two charities close to her heart - the Irish Red Cross and Age Action.
I was a member of the Red Cross when I lived in Bray when I was 14 years old and found it very very enjoyable and very helpful.
She supports Age Action and said, “I feel we Golden Oldies should look after each other.”
Kathleen also does Tai Chi and weekly exercise classes.
She said, “my policy in life is ‘get up, get out and do it.’”
Her husband is fully supportive of her initiative and said, “I think it is a very good idea and it will be great for the charities. We have a great family, great children, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.”
The couple is well known in Blackrock, Co Louth and has a huge amount of support from family friends and community.
Donal said, “In this terrible global emergency, we have all had to adapt to a new way of living and celebrating a massive milestone such as our mother’s 90th birthday.”
“This proves we can still do that and still make her feel like she is celebrating with her family despite the anxiety stress and adjustments we have all had to do.”
“We are as a family are very proud of their independent spirit and continued love of life and their family. We feel lucky and blessed.”
Kathleen will be dancing in her garden and with many family members living within the 2km exercise limit, she is guaranteed support throughout the day while ensuring HSE guidelines are followed.
