EVEN as centenarian Cecelia Ethleen Ramsay King, called ‘Tanti’, of 144 Bermine Housing Scheme, New Amsterdam, has lived for 103 years, and intends to increase her tally, her well wishers are appealing to the Government to host sessions with those like her along with those who have attempted suicide in a bid to give a new meaning of life to the latter.

A relative, Compton Reid, in expressing best wishes to the centenarian, observed that there is a high incidence of suicide in the country, and in an effort to combat the scourge, he suggested that there be an interactive session between the elderly, primarily the centenarians, and those who had lost hope in living.
Reid opined that such interaction will allow those who would have attempted suicide to recognise the privileges attached to longevity.
Meanwhile, the Berbice centenarian related that ‘the secret of long life is to honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long on the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Smiling with her head tilted, Tanti, as she is fondly called, remarked, “The journey was not easy, sometimes up, sometimes down, but God always came through for me.”
Born on January 9, 1912, ‘Tanti’ still continues to wash, cook and clean,… ‘and I enjoy it’.
The petite woman, who is in good health apart from a slight hearing impairment, said that she, the fourth of nine children, was born to her father William Ramsay, a balata bleeder, and though she received her formal education at the Roman Catholic School in New Amsterdam, and later the Lightown Primary on the East Bank of Berbice, she was forced to terminate her schooling to assist her younger siblings who were left on their own after her parents would have left for the farmlands.
Her mother, Eliza David, who lived to age 87, worked on the breadfruit and cocoa cultivation plots, as she more often than not had to singlehandedly care for her children, as she stated that “my father focused on his older children from a previous marriage, as those children’s mother was dead.”
“My mother had sent me to live with a friend in New Amsterdam so that I could attend school, but a few months later, my father demanded that I return home.
“In those days, there was no electricity, the only transportation available was the boats which would transport us from Lightown Village to Stanleytown Stelling, from there we walked to the New Amsterdam Market where the produce would be sold. If we did not get money to pay the boat, we would form ourselves in groups and walk the twelve mile trek to the town, where, after selling the provision we would buy groceries, before returning home”.
Describing her life, Tanti said, “It was hard, but I survived. I did not have an easy life from my mother’s home to my husband’s house, as he was a lady’s man. My father had disapproved of the relationship, but my husband pursued me anyhow. My father held out that he was not in favour, nevertheless, we married in 1937, without his presence and blessing. My husband, Albert King, a boat builder, a joiner and a farmer, died leaving me with nothing, just as my father had predicted.”
Following his death, the widow, being childless, single-handedly cared for several nieces and nephews, taking the position as a single parent, scrubbing floors and washing clothes for a shilling a month.
“I worked for seven persons, but when the money was counted at the end of the month it was not plenty, but I could have had the necessary essential items. Thank God I did not have to pay a rent or electricity bill. The money now is many times more, but you are limited in your buying”.
With a smile and a tilted head, she recalled attending the annual school sports, as a student of Lightown Primary, particularly the parade from her hometown to Friends Village a few miles away.
“Being a nation under British rule, we would sing ‘Rule Britannia, Rule Britannia………..Britain would never, never fail…’ as we marched ahead, with the Union Jack being proudly hoisted by available hands. There would be egg and spoon race, thread the needle race, among others. Those were my favourite, needles. After the sports we would have ginger beer and buns, before going home.”
Currently, Tanti is living at her Seventh Day Adventist sister after she suffered an accident at her home, sustaining fractures to her left and right ribs. Nevertheless, when left alone, she washes her clothing and cooks for her adopted family.
“I like to do work. I don’t like to sit doing nothing. When they gone out I does do my own washing. I can manage,” she mused.

(By Jeune Vankeric)