Clad in a blue and white hat, yellow jacket, black patterned dress and sash, centenarian Audrey Husbands looked like royalty yesterday as she and President The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason chatted like old friends.
Hailing from Gall Hill, Christ Church, Husbands met with Dame Sandra at a relative’s house in Kingsland Park, Christ Church, for her 100th birthday celebration.
Before she left, Dame Sandra thanked Husbands for her hospitality and for allowing her to “mind your business”.
“Continue to impart to your children and grandchildren all of your knowledge and love, and remind them you are here by the grace of God. All the best to you and enjoy the rest of your day,” the President said.
Husbands, whose memory and wit have not dulled over the years, said she went to school at Water Street Girls School, now Christ Church Girls’ School. She never attended secondary school but instead went to work at the then Coral Ridge Plantation, where she “worked hard” until retirement.
The mother of seven, two of whom are deceased, admitted she was hazy on the number of grandchildren, laughingly saying: “I could say a number but it might be a lie.”
Daughter Marjorie Greenidge said Husbands had 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grands as well as “a couple of great-great-grands”.
“She was the best, a loving mother who, despite working hard, found time to talk with us about life and ask us how we were doing. She taught
us to cook so we would have dinner ready when she got home,” she added.
Greenidge said her mother was once married to Leonard Husbands, but he lived in the United States and they did not see him that much, so the centenarian had to be both mother and father.
After retirement, Husbands continued to work the land, growing plants at home until two or three years ago. Greenidge said her mother continues to be self-reliant.
“She makes her own breakfast and bathes herself. Only recently we had to stop her from washing her clothes. She still cleans the house, but if she tires herself out, we will take the broom away and finish the job,” she said.
Health-wise, Husbands is in good standing, with only some issues with the eyesight following cataract surgery. Even so, Greenidge said her mother can rea without glasses. The birthday girl attributed her long life solely to God, as she could neither “buy nor sell” her years.
“The Almighty God has contributed to me reaching old age. I accept it and I thank Him,” she said. (CA)
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