Guyana welcomes another centenarian… Mrs Doris Agatha Kingston is today 100 not out!
Centenarian Mrs. Doris Kingston with her nieces Leila Ashby; Pansy Thomas (visiting from the USA); and Natasha Kingston, who assists in taking care of her and other relatives
Centenarian Mrs. Doris Kingston with her nieces Leila Ashby; Pansy Thomas (visiting from the USA); and Natasha Kingston, who assists in taking care of her and other relatives

TODAY is a special day for Mrs. Doris Agatha Kingston of Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara. Today, she is privileged to be joining the ranks of Guyana’s few but celebrated centenarians.Born at Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara on April 21, 1915 to Martha David and Inniss, Doris is the longest surviving from her line, but recalls with pride that she had an aunt and godmother, Aunty Bacchus, fondly referred to as ‘Aunty Piggy’, who had also been a centenarian.

Ms. Doris Agatha Kingston is 100 years old today!
Ms. Doris Agatha Kingston is 100 years old today!

Doris’s nieces and other family members, both at home and visiting from the United States of America, have planned a 100th birthday reception in her honour, scheduled for Saturday.

Asked how she feels about living to the ripe old age of 100 and still enjoying fairly good health, Doris spontaneously asserted, “Good! Good! I feel very good; and of course I am proud to be 100!”

And just what is responsible for her maintaining that charm and elegance she has been able to take with her through the years? She smilingly replied: “Being in touch with my Lord. I live for Him and trust in Him. He is a very present help in the time of need. I cast my doubts and cares on Him, and he is able to see me through,” she vaunted, adding: “I don’t have to go to any ‘Read man;’ my God is able!”

As a child growing up in Nabaclis, she attended the Victoria Roman Catholic School, but grew up in a Brethren Home, and so attended the Victoria Brethren Church along with her four siblings. “We grow up loving, attended Sunday School and educational school, but my father was very strict.”

Of course she remembers the good times she had had as children, taking part in Sunday school treats and winning first prize for reciting Bible memory verses, and the response she elicited for creditable performance. She remembers, with pride, the appreciative and wildly excited audience literally ‘bringing the house down’ with their promptings to: “Put she back again!”

On one such occasion, she recalled truly making her parents proud; and as her father was entering the concert hall, he recalled hearing the tumultuous applause and calling for repeat, but had no idea it was his little Doris on stage, until he got to the building.

At age 23, she married Isaac Webb, but they had no children. The wedding was ‘something to remember’, with cutely dressed flower girls and a page boy carrying the rings. The reception was held at Cove and John, and from there the couple went straight to Berbice, where she would only recall her father’s strictness, but no longer had to endure it. She was now happily married.

She recalled working with the British soldiers at Atkinson air base (now Timehri) as a maid, serving the table, but she said it was quite an experience. One had to be very disciplined in that environment, and she learnt the basic rules of etiquette.

Being very industrious, even after the death of her husband, with the passage of time, she invested in improving the home handed down by her parents, in which she lives to this date. She also travelled abroad, having spent six months in Canada on vacation.

Today at 100, she boasts, “My eyes are bright like a cat, even though my hearing is slightly impaired.” She has never suffered from diseases, like the dreaded diabetes and hypertension. With the aid of dentures, she can eat almost anything edible, but does so in moderation, she adds.

“But I love cook-up rice and, of course, meh soup! But let me tell you a secret: The young people nowadays can’t cook a good cook-up rice to suit me.”
Asked what is so different about the ones she cooked, she replied. “Cook-up must have fresh beef, salt beef, pig-tail, tripe, chicken and shrimps. But now the young people they don’t eat shrimps, so right away their cook-up is lacking, and so it’s different altogether,” she mused.

And reiterating her acknowledgement of the Creator, she concluded, “I believe in only one God. Ah never go to card-cutter. I look to my God alone.” (Shirley Thomas)

By Shirley Thomas

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.