St Bess centenarian rues missing birthday calls
Published:Monday | November 1, 2021 | 12:10 AM
A downed telephone line in Aberdeen, northeast St Elizabeth, robbed centenarian Muriel Crosse of the usual calls she is accustomed to receiving on her birthday, dampening what would have been an otherwise perfect celebration she had planned.
Crosse said the issue was reported to telecommunications company FLOW three weeks ago, but to date, there has been no response.
Concerned congregants of Aberdeen Church of the Nazarene brought the matter to the fore on Sunday during a birthday celebration for Crosse, who is affectionately called ‘Miss Birdie’.
“I don’t know what happen to it, but the line at my house drop down a long time now and they have not fixed it, and I reported it. So all my calls, I don’t get – only on my cell phone,” lamented the centenarian.
“It is nice talking to people and it makes me feel good, but I never got to for my day,” Crosse told The Gleaner when contacted.
In response to queries, FLOW said on Sunday that the issue would be investigated.
In the meantime, Crosse, a former schoolteacher, said she is grateful to be celebrating 100 years.
The eldest of her six siblings, two of whom have died, suggested that her secret to long life is constant prayer and gratitude.
And except for her diabetes, which saw her restricting her diet to ground provisions and various meats, said she lives a fairly comfortable life.
“I take my tablets and I pray much and I don’t eat what I shouldn’t eat. Everybody says I am strong, you know. So I just try to stay put and be happy with the Lord,” she said.
Cross said she wished that all her six children could have celebrated her high point with her. Three of them have died.
“I miss them, but I still thank the Lord,” she said.