The century girls

published: Sunday | April 6, 2008

Mary Jane enjoying a sip of Dragon Stout; for this 107- year-old, beer and rum give the spirit a lift. - Photo by Amitabh Sharma

"I love men!" rattled Mary Jane. "Men are nice." She remembers picking a fight at her school gate and riding a donkey to church. She is no teeny-bopper; she turned 107 in January. "I was born in 1901 in St Elizabeth," she says.

Mary Jane is a resident of the Golden Age Home in Kingston. "She has been with us for the last 10 years," says Morlene Moncrieffe-Grant, supervisor of Cluster F, where Mary Jane stays.

Mary Jane lost her eyesight some years back. She is very agile and carries on a great conversation - after a couple of sips of beer. She gulps down liquid with the utmost ease. "I love spirits; it makes me calm," she tells The Sunday Gleaner.

"Ginger beer is baby drink," Mary Jane proclaims. "I love Dragon Stout."

"She is very fond of rum and beer. In spite of her fondness for alcohol, she has good health and a sharp memory," says Moncrieffe-Grant. "Apart from arthritis and blindness, she does not have any other health issues."

Mary Jane explains she never had children and does not remember the name of her husband, but she remembers her husband was a handsome young farmer. "(My) husband used to take care of me, but he used to flog me if I did anything bad," she recounts.

Frail, but alert

Across the street in Cluster C, Doris May Ancle enjoys the warm sunshine, sitting on her chair, clutching a greeting card with a picture of Queen Elizabeth. "The queen sent me this card when I turned 100," Ancle discloses.

She is looking forward to her birthday in June. She will be 103. Ancle is frail, but alert and has a very sharp memory. "I was born on June 5, 1905, on a Wednesday," she said, in a crisp voice.

Ancle recalls as a young girl, she took a tram from Papine to Cross Roads and Victoria Market; she used to pay one penny for a ride. "Sometime it was less, depending on the distance," she recalls.

Life was simple then. "We used to have busy days, had homework to do. On Saturdays, we used to tidy up the house and go to St Peter and Paul Church on Sunday," relates Ancle.

There was no television or radio and the children, as Ancle and Mary Jane recalled, played in their free time. "We did not have TV," says Mary Jane. "The children used to come together, talk and play dolly house."

Adds Ancle: "There were plenty of little girls we used to play Ring Ding Dahling, and all sort of nice things."

While Mary Jane seldom worked for a living, Ancle loved sewing clothes and was a seamstress. "When I had free time, I used to make dolly clothes," she relates with a sparkle in her eyes.

Neither Ancle nor Mary Jane has ever travelled on an airplane. "Plane, hmmm," says Ancle, looking to the sky, tapping her head with her fingers, "I saw them at the airport, that's all."

While Mary Jane spends her days resting and enjoying a bottle of beer or a shot of rum, Ancle catches up with some reading. She has a pair of glasses, but can read without them. "Sometime I read The Gleaner, I have always read The Gleaner," she states.

Twilight years

Now in their twilight years, both women take joy in the simple pleasures of life.

"I don't want nothing special for my birthday; I just want some nice chicken," says Ancle.

Yvonne Thomas, supervisor of Cluster C, discloses that several residents of the Golden Age Home have lived past 100. "All they need is love and care, which they get here. And that is the reason they can live for so long," she states..

amitabh.sharma@gleanerjm.com