A resident of Lot 56 Palmyra Village, East Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) celebrated her 100th birthday on Thursday.
Evelyn Ramrup called ‘Aunty Ivy’ was born on November 23, 1923, at Port Mourant, and is still alive today. She observed the milestone with two of her four children who remain alive.
Currently, she needs to be assisted to get off her bed and can no longer see. However, these ailments only struck ‘Aunty Ivy’ earlier this month.
Her memory remains vibrant. She says she was happy to reach the milestone while noting that she never imagined that she would have lived this long.
She is being cared for by her eldest daughter, 81-year-old Jean Jailall.
“She used to be walking around going from upstairs to downstairs and helping out herself. I never expected her to reach to 100,” the care-taking daughter said while noting that in her younger days ‘Aunty Ivy’ was a hard worker.
According to her eldest, her mother planted and harvested rice with a grass knife.
As a teenager, she worked at the Port Mourant Sugar Estate before getting married to her husband at the age of 16. After marriage, she moved to Palmyra.
The couple had six children, two of whom are now deceased.
Her husband passed away 42 years ago, in his 70s.
‘Aunty Ivy’ has seven grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
Her mother passed away in her 30s while her only brother passed away at age 75.
Though her favourite food is chicken curry, now ‘Aunty Ivy’ is confined to a diet of mainly soup.
She pointed out that in recent months, ‘Aunty Ivy’ had not been as fully active as before but she carried the willpower, and her reduced activity and movement were not noticed by many.
One of the centenarian’s dreams was to have her children and their offspring with her for her birthday. She got her dream.
“She said to me ‘You all had me so long, not everybody has that opportunity, so, when the time come for me to go, you must not cry,” Persaud recalled.
