–says ‘Granny Clarke’, who turns 100 today

By Vishani Ragobeer

GROWING up, she never had much time for boys. “I was quiet,” she said. “Boys used to come and fight for me.” In the end, she sort of settled for Patrick Lawrence, a school-teacher and the father of her three children; but only after he’d pursued her relentlessly.
She never married him, however, as he’d already had two wives. He was also in the habit of “making children all about.” She’s never known another man either, as she was too busy raising her children.
Born in Den Amstel in West Demerara, but raised here in Georgetown, Agnes Iris Clarke, who turns 100 today, remembers living in suburban Wortmanville at first, before moving to Alberttown.
The eldest and lone survivor of her parents’ 10 children, ‘Granny Clarke’, or ‘Cousin Iris’ as she’s sometimes called, remembers attending the St. Stephen’s Primary School as a child, and much later the now defunct Collegiate High School, which was then located somewhere in Alberttown.
Back then, she said, “I was big and fat,” but that didn’t stop her from doing well at school. So well, that the class “dunce”, who had a penchant for “cogging” and happened to be sitting right next to her during exams once, was able to come out with flying colours.
UPS AND DOWNS
But, jokes aside, those were rough times, she said. “I never had an easy time in life,” ‘Granny Clarke’ said, as on top of her heavy workload at school, she also had her household chores to contend with, being the eldest.
“Me ain’t had time fuh games,” she said, as not only did she have to help her mother bake cassava bread, which she did daily, but she also had to chop and fetch the wood they used to cook with.
She recalls fetching wood on her head, until at one point she thought her neck would give out.
Those were the days, she said, when going to the doctor was unheard of in their family, as her mother could not have afforded such luxury; there simply wasn’t any money to do that.
Often, her mother had to resort to unorthodox measures of taking care of her children whenever they fell ill, like wrapping her neck up in oodles of “old bedding” whenever it hurt after fetching the wood and just hoping for the best.
She vividly remembers almost cutting her foot in half once, and never having gone to have it sutured, much less dressed. To this day, she still has the mark on the sole of her foot to remind her of it.

BRIGHT SIDE
But life was not all gloom and doom, as it did have its moments, one of which, no doubt, was raising her children, never mind she had to hold down several jobs, many of them menial, to make ends meet.
But despite all that, she’s proud to have been able to live to a ripe old age, with very few ailments to talk about.
And, thank God! She’s still able to do things around in the house, as she doesn’t like to be idle.
A staunch Adventist, she prays every day; all she asks God for, she said jocularly, is to help her climb the stairs.
Her favourite saying is, “Nobody knows the trouble I see; nobody knows but Jesus.”
Today, ‘Granny Clarke’ lives in Lodge, where she’d moved to since 1956. And from the three children she gave birth to (Patricia, Pamela and Donald), she now has 14 grandchildren, 33 ‘great-grands’, and nine ‘great-great-grands’.
For her birthday today, there will be a Thanksgiving Service at 17:00 hrs in her honour, where many of her relatives, church members, and representatives of the Ministry of the Presidency among other well-wishers will be present.