Beloved centenarian celebrates her milestone

“My mother wanted me to stand home and help she work and tend to her children,” she said. However, her granddaughter Heather Browne-Hewitt added that DD, as Gran is affectionately called, was still able to be the nurse and seamstress for her family even though she had no qualifications in either profession. “Gran had many hats; She was an uncertified midwife, nurse, teacher, confidant, best friend and caregiver . . . Gran always wanted to be a nurse and dressmaker but as the eldest of her mom’s children, she had to take care of them. Gran would say her mom hindered her a bit; but God blessed her with skills that even though Gran is not a certified midwife, she delivered some of her babies, some of her grans and some of her relatives’ children. “Gran never went to school to learn anything about dressmaking but she sent her children to Sunday School in the most beautiful dresses and school uniforms. She made them free-handed, not using a sewing machine. Up to the age of 95 before she became ill and lost vision in her right eye, Gran was still making dresses free-handed and altering clothes as well,” she said. Browne attended St Stephen’s Primary School and thereafter did domestic work. She married Cecil Browne, a soldier, on April 26, 1946, and 15 years later the couple moved to 4th Avenue Alleyne’s Land, Bush Hall, St Michael. Although her husband passed away about 30 years ago, Browne still lives there today. Browne-Hewitt also told President Dame Sandra Mason, who paid her grandmother a special visit, that DD helped raise many children in the community, who looked up to her as a mother figure or aunty. “Growing up I always had a deep admiration for my gran, her loving kind-hearted nature. She wasn’t only so to us her family but to friends and any stranger that came in contact with her. My mom and her siblings told me Gran was so kind that any person coming by unexpectedly could guarantee they would have a meal, even if it meant Gran giving up hers and resorting to drinking a cup of tea with two biscuits. Any time my friends stopped by they would be guaranteed a meal even if Gran had to go in the kitchen and make a few muffins or a few bakes, something was always there. “Our home was the neighbourhood home for all the children to gather. They gathered from morning and my Gran never chased them away. She welcomed them with open hands and would have a cup of lemonade waiting for them. They loved her so much that today many calls came in from overseas and all over,” Browne-Hewitt added. DD had five children and she outlived two of them. She has 11 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and ten great-great grandchildren. Her daughter Enid Browne, is her caregiver. While chatting with Dame Sandra, DD said that she lived an active life but after she got ill she did not do as much as before. “My daughter bathes me on mornings, I eat and then go and lay down and sleep,” she said before bursting out in laughter. Based on the amount of storytelling and jokes DD shared, it was evident that she had all her faculties intact and she had a good sense of humour. She does not suffer from any non-communicable diseases. DD also shared that she enjoyed going to the fish market to buy ‘pound fish’ and insisted that she had to bone the fish herself. She said it was her love for eating fish that contributed to her longevity, adding that in her old age she drank “nuff oat flakes”. Some of her other favourite foods include cornmeal cou cou, soup, ground provisions, porridge, Christmas ham and horlicks. She added that she loved when her great-grandchildren visited her. “I like to know that they are alright. When I see one, I ask for the next ones,” she said. During the celebrations, Dame Sandra encouraged DD’s great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren to spend more time with her and write down some of the memories she shared. She said it was important for the younger generation to understand how hard life was in days gone by so they would not feel ‘entitled’ and take what they have for granted. Referring to the chaos caused at Powda last weekend, in which hundreds of partygoers broke down the security barricades, Dame Sandra said that a lot of the bad behaviour the youth exhibited today was because they felt ‘entitled’. DD continued her birthday celebrations at Botanical Gardens later in the evening surrounded by her family and friends. (SZB)]]>