Repeat visitor Gwendoline Fox had one wish for her 100th birthday – to celebrate the milestone in Barbados, her second home.
Fox has been visiting the island for more than 50 years and fell in love with the weather and warmth of the people.
“It’s quite incredible,” she said on Tuesday, declaring that it was her experiences during her repeated visits here that contributed to her longevity.
While travelling for 24 hours and taking three planes to come to Barbados may seem like a daunting task for someone her age, Fox insisted that she had to return to the land of cou-cou and flying fish to start her journey as a centenarian.
Fox, affectionately called Na Na, was born in England and currently lives in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. She arrived on the island on January 19 and is staying here until May 13.
Fox is the first non-national on record to celebrate their 100th birthday here.
During her birthday celebrations, she received a special visit from President Dame Sandra Mason and Chief Product Development Officer with the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) Marsha Alleyne.
Alleyne presented Fox with a special token of appreciation – a painting depicting a chattel house, a cultural and historic fixture of the Barbadian identity.
The BTMI official said it was an honour to have Fox and her family celebrating this occasion in Barbados, adding that her repeated visits with her family spoke volumes about what this rock meant to her and her loved ones.
Dame Sandra presented the birthday lady with a bouquet and a birthday card and listened attentively to the stories Fox recalled during her role as a telephonist and air raid warden in England during World War II. The two also spoke about their love for poetry and even recalled some of their favourite classical poems.
During this discussion, Fox’s humour, wittiness and jovial personality shone through. She told the President that she enjoyed a lime daiquiri every evening and during her younger years, she was a well-known face at most of the nightclubs in the Christ Church area, including the Pepper Pot. Fox said she loved dancing and was an adept ballroom dancer.
“That’s why it’s so sad that my legs have given out now,” she said jokingly.
Fox’s late husband Gerry Fox, who passed away in 1982, was a radio operator during World War II and the two met at a dance. They have five children, including twins, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Fox said long life was in her blood as her elder sister lived to 103 and other relatives passed away just shy of their 100th birthday.
The centenarian explained that she only decided to visit Barbados after her son Mike Fox suggested it. He first vacationed here in 1973 and subsequently, his twin sisters wanted to visit the island for their 18th birthday celebrations and Fox accompanied them and their friends. She has loved Barbados ever since.
Over the years, Fox made a lot of friends here and many of them joined her and her family at the Barbados Yacht Club for a big birthday party on Tuesday evening.
Fox said she lived a fulfilled life, professionally and personally.
She worked at a convalescent hospital in Canada in the accounts department and retired in 1983 during the hospital’s digitisation process.
“I didn’t want to learn [anything about] computers,” said Fox.
Ironically, the centenarian has an iPad and listens to audiobooks regularly.
Fox enjoyed travelling the world and her favourite type of vacation was a cruise. In total, she did 40 cruises and enjoyed the Caribbean ones most of all.
“I’ve never gone on a cruise that didn’t have a casino,” she said, adding that she liked to play poker and other card games.
Fox now spends most of her days outdoors.
Although she has a sharp memory and can recite her favourite poem, she has challenges with her vision and hearing and is a diabetic.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
