A happy 105 for Millicent

MILLICENT GERTRUDE WILLIAMS ushered in her 105th birthday yesterday surrounded by friends and family at her Rockhampton Road, Grazettes Landing Scheme, St Michael home.

And her memory remains as sharp as ever.

Born in Mahaica Gap, Green Hill, in the same parish, the mother of eight still remembers the days she worked as a janitor at the now defunct Buxton Primary, and when she and five other women cooked for the construction workers who built the Bridgetown Harbour.

She lamented the migration of many of her relatives to the United States, so she was even more grateful for the ones who were there yesterday, including two of her daughters, Craseta Williams and Renell Callender.

Millicent, whose hearing has deteriorated, still enjoys her meals, especially chicken and ground provisions. Had it not been for a fall which resulted in her using a walker, relatives said she would still be cooking for herself.

She thanked God for her long life.

“I never thought I would live this long. Up to last night [I prayed]; I said whatever the future is,” she said.

Both daughters and great-niece Hyacinth Anne Williams said Millicent was a strict disciplinarian who made sure they were always in line.

“If she told you not to go out and you end up going out, just know that you couldn’t come back in . . . . It would be licks,” Craseta said. (TG)