Centenarian lauded for being a friend indeed
Published:Wednesday | August 31, 2022 | 12:10 AM
A cheerful, soft-spoken and supportive Viola Estella Brown has reached the milestone age of 100 today.
Born on August 31, 1922, in Pleasant Hill, Portland, she was the third of seven children.
She recalled that she lived with her mother and did not experience much hardship as a child.
Brown comes from a family of long livers, with relatives reaching 105 years old.
All her siblings, except her 90-year-old brother, Vin, who resides in England, have died.
For most of her adult life, she worked as the caretaker of a private school on Retirement Crescent in Kingston.
Brown gave birth to two children, Lisa and Winston. Her son predeceased her in 2017.
She rises at 5 o’clock daily and makes it her duty to wake up everyone else in the house before taking a brief walk around her Arnett Gardens community.
The centenarian remains a strong woman who carries out just about any household duty, even when her daughter tries to stop her.
“She spread her own bed, tidy up her room and make her own tea in the morning. She not waiting on anybody to do it for her,” Lisa said.
Her diet consists primarily of soup and porridge, and before she commenced a soft diet, rice and peas with chicken was her request every Sunday.
Brown reads THE STAR daily without glasses and credits her long life to her commitment to God.
“Church is her favourite place to be. You can’t be around her and you’re not going to Sunday School or church,” her daughter said, adding that she carried many children in the community to church and basic school.
Over her lifetime, she has been generally healthy and only complains of arthritic pain in her knees.
Lisa, 57, told The Gleaner that her mother was a stern woman during her childhood, who limited her social interactions to church and school events.
“Church always had a lot of activities and she carried me to all of them. Other than that, we sit and chat and laugh. I feel extra blessed to see her reach this milestone. I am glad that she is up and about because she could bedridden,” Lisa said.
Lavern Brown, one of her eight grandchildren, recalled that she was certain to receive a meal or mangoes when she passed by her grandmother’s workplace as a child.
“She is a wonderful woman, a woman of God, and I love her very much. She has just always been there for us, even when my mother died a few years ago,” she said as her eyes welled up with tears.
Viola’s best friend and neighbour of 45 years, Joyce Jones, said they had an instant connection when they met, as they both were Portlanders.
“She is the only friend that I really have on the pathway here. Mi and har sit down morning, evening and night ‘til we are ready to go in,” said Jones.
“Sometimes when she don’t see me, she come and knock the door and ask me, ‘Wah happen? How me nuh see yuh from morning?’ That is the kind of bond we have.”
The 84-year-old shared that a trip to Cuba more than a decade ago remains the best experience they have shared as friends.
Jones recalled that Viola visited the eye clinic, was referred for cataract surgery in Cuba, and required someone to accompany her.
Viola wrote down her best friend’s name without consulting her, but thankfully, Jones’ children gave her the go-ahead to be her companion.
“We had a good flight. We shared one room, ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together. We had a really good time. We are like sisters, like two peas in a pod,” Jones said.
She added that when she is not at home, she can count on Viola to feed her cats or take a message from anyone who comes to see her.
“I feel very happy to see her reach 100,” she said with a smile.