Welcome to 100!

WESTERN BUREAU:

Rosetta Gooden-Anderson, a retired cane-cutter and farmer who now resides in Bastard Cedar Walk, has become Westmoreland and Jamaica’s newest centenarian.

With Gooden-Anderson adorned by her centenarian’s crown, family members, friends and her religious brothers and sisters transformed the auditorium of Petersfield High School into a banqueting hall where they gathered to celebrate her historic journey and arriving at her 100th birthday.

“God’s richest blessing and di goodness weh mi use to do for people,” said Gooden-Anderson when asked for the secrets behind her long life.

She was born in the community of Cairn Curran, in Darliston, Westmoreland, on May 18, 1924, where she attended the then Cairn Curran Elementary School which in those days went to grade nine or up to her 15th birthday before working with her parents at home until she eventually gained employment at the West Indies Sugar Company, now Pan Caribbean Sugar Company Limited, located at Frome in the parish.

“Mi weed grass, mi turn trash, mi cut cane and mi broke rock stone,” Gooden-Anderson said of the types of jobs she did while growing up for more than 30 at the Sugar Company. “This is where I worked and mine my children by the sweat of mi brow.”

When not working for the Frome Estate, Gooden-Anderson, who her family said has been ageing gracefully, planted rice, cane, yam and a wide variety of vegetables which supplement her income in caring for not just her family, but those in need from the community.

Love of her life

While the actual date has eluded her and other family members, the centenarian got married to the love of her life, Uton Anderson, the union producing 10 children, comprising seven girls and three boys. One of the boys died recently and her husband of many years also predeceased her in 1981.

Attaining the milestone of 100 years old on Saturday, the centenarian, who also planted sugar cane, said she sold the crop to Frome and the money she used helped to raise her children whom she loved dearly.

“I was hardworking, and I cultivated something for children to eat. Mi plant rice and mi plant cane, cut it and sell it to West Indies Sugar Company,” Gooden-Anderson told The Gleaner.

The Westmoreland centenarian, who rode a bicycle to work, church and even to her own farm said she never had the pleasure of going to parties as she was busy making sure her children were properly cared for.

However, she said when she accepted Jesus as her saviour and provider, it was the best thing that happened to her from that point, until now.

Although not able to attend as regularly as she once did, Gooden-Anderson said she served the people of God by working as a cleaner, sweeping and wiping the chairs and benches where she rose to the position of an elder at the Mount Carmel Church of the Nazarine in Bastard Cedar Walk.

On the night of her birthday, she was gifted with a nicely arranged basket from the Sugar Producers Federation in recognition of her 100th birthday and for over 30 years working in the cane fields at Frome.

Inspiration to her children

Milton Anderson, one of the centenarian’s sons, who is also a teacher at Petersfield High School, said his mother is a hardworking woman who placed a high priority on the lives of her children.

“She is overly interested in the achievement of her children, by going the extra mile to care for us,” the educator said of his mother.

Anderson described his mother’s milestone as an inspiration to all her children.

“As her children, we appreciate her and are happy that we can celebrate her own achievement,” he added.

Valerie Anderson, who resides in Canada, but sent her greetings via video recording that was played at her mother’s celebration, described Gooden-Anderson as a great educator in her own right.

“My greatest educator and trainer is my mother. I have had many teachers in my life, but my mother is the greatest of them all,” Anderson said.

She noted that her lifelong lessons and training were done using practical examples, in word and deed, and that her mother impressed on her children to do to others, all that is good and to speak only kind of them.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com