A life that has now spanned 105 years.
And while it has been a tough year for many, she hasn't stopped smiling.
After growing up as one of four children near Badger Creek before moving to Bendigo, Mrs Goodman spent her days caring for her two children and husband David.
It was her sister who set her up on a blind date with the man she would marry.
‘‘I was going to meet him at the train station and I picked him out immediately,’’ Mrs Goodman said.
‘‘I married David on April 4, 1942, at the registry office in a small ceremony with a few friends.’’
David worked at a cotton mill and moved the family from Melbourne to Bendigo for his job.
Her children always had fond memories at home with their parents.
“Mum was always such a wonderful presence at home,” her daughter Judy Simons said.
“She was so supportive of us and what we did, she felt like a best friend as well as a mother.”
In her early days, Mrs Goodman worked as a cook in a nursing home before taking up a career in housekeeping and home duties.
“She was always cooking,” Mrs Simons said.
“We were very well looked after, that's for sure.”
After her husband died in 2004, Mrs Goodman relocated to Elmore to be close to her daughter and her husband, Jeff Simons.
But for the past two years, she has been living at Rochester and Elmore District Health Service.
“She really has loved it here and we can't thank the staff enough for their amazing care,” Mrs Simons said.
Life hasn’t been without its difficulties; in fact, it was on her birthday five years ago that Mrs Goodman broke her hip, and then contracted pneumonia.
But that has not kept her down.
Known in her family for her terrific sense of humour, Mrs Goodman is described as an ‘‘amazing lady’’ who is ‘‘incredibly resilient and strong’’.
“She really is the happiest woman I have ever seen,” Mrs Simons said.
“She's still so easy-going and stress-free, I think that's how she's got to 105. She never lets anything get to her.”
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