Former National Senior Games athlete Collie Cleotta Ernestine Lovell always prayed and asked God to allow her to celebrate her 100th birthday.
On Monday, in generally good health, Lovell, who retired from participating in the games at 96 years old, expressed gratitude that her prayers had been answered.
“I thank God that I am alive. I try to serve the Lord, and the Lord loves me, and I love him, and that is why I live so long,” the mother of six, grandmother of 17 and great-grandmother of 15 declared.
Smartly dressed in a burgundy frock and beige heels, Lovell shared snippets of her life story with President Dame Sandra Mason who joined her birthday celebrations in the church hall of the Holy Innocents Anglican Church, St Thomas.
It was at that church that she committed her life to God 88 years ago, and served in the Mothers’ Union and sang in the choir.
The Downes Gap, Arthur Seat, St Thomas resident’s witty remarks, powerful singing, and her sense of humour earned her smiles of admiration from Dame Sandra during their almost hour-long meeting.
The centenarian told the country’s first president that even though she encountered difficulties, her life has been “wonderful”.
Lovell’s children Oscar, 76; Joseph, 73; Phillip, 66, Margaret, 62; and Samuel, 54 were among several relatives and friends who attended the function. Her 95-year-old sister, Daisy Gill, was also present.
President Dame Sandra Mason (right) often smiled adoringly at Collie Lovell during her visit with her.
However, Lovell’s son, John, 70, was unable to attend the celebrations but a congratulatory birthday message he wrote was read.
“Christened Collie but always called ‘Sister’ because of her nature and demeanour, she was seen as the perfect sister to her 17 siblings. Her two hands were the tools used for pinning cloth diapers, dressmaking, basket making, cooking, gardening and for flogging her five boys and one girl. They also cared for the elderly. Your Excellency, my mother is true grit, having been moulded by life’s hardest circumstances,” the message read.
John, who pointed out that his mother lived through a world war and several hurricanes, told the matriarch that future generations were hoping that they, too, could reach their 100th milestone.
“Ma, you had your heart set on this day for the past 30 years, asking everyone you conversed with to offer prayers on your behalf. God has heard. God has delivered. A woman of strong will, I could not get her to stay off the street. Her reason? She had to go to various establishments to help care for old people. Now get this, my mother is 70, 80, and 90. When asked how old these old people were, to my surprise, some were as much as 30 years younger than herself. What a strong, dedicated woman to her fellow human beings,” the message continued.
Lovell left school at 12 years old to help raise her siblings, several of whom were older, allowing her father, who worked in the fields, and her mother, a hawker, to go out and earn an honest dollar to support the family.
Even though she was just a teenager, Lovell was referred to as a “little mother” in her community because she took the responsibilities associated with caring for her siblings seriously, and even flogged them when necessary.
Several of her siblings lived past age 80, but Lovell is among the few still living.
Her husband, Joseph Lovell, to whom she was married for 49 years, died at the age of 75 in 1998.
Margaret told those gathered that even though life was challenging at times, her mother, with the assistance of her husband, did her best “to make life easy for her children”.
“My mom became an integral player at the National Senior Games, participating in everything that she could do, and what she couldn’t get done, she [still] did. At home, there are so many medals and so many awards for her participation.
“But after she was coming of age in her 90s, she started to get a little slow, and they decided to let her be the mascot for the games. And she was also given the opportunity to open the games,” Margaret added.
Known for her drama skills, Lovell also participated in a series of national plays produced by former parliamentarian and community activist Hamilton Lashley and actor Winston Farrell.
Member of Parliament for St Thomas Cynthia Forde, who has known Lovell for many years, even teaching at least one of her children at Holy Innocents Primary, noted that the centenarian was still playing an active role in the constituency. She said as recently as two months ago, Lovell attended a Barbados Labour Party branch meeting.
Dame Sandra suggested to Forde that she should submit Lovell’s name for a Builders of Barbados Award for her sterling contribution to national development.
