Centenarian still has clear memories of fond times

At 100 years old, Kathleen Isabelle Callender-Foster still has a sharp, clear mind.
Barbados’ latest centenarian can remember when her son was a baby and even the salary she earned in her younger years.

Celebrating her birthday on Friday at her Lower Carter’s Gap, Christ Church home where family and President Dame Sandra Mason gathered, Callender-Foster recalled when Hurricane Janet hit Barbados in 1955.

“My first boy was only four months old. I had to go to St Mary’s School; I was living in town then, and the roof did start to blow off,” she said.

She also alluded to her days at the Geriatric Hospital where she worked until she retired at the age of 60.

“They keep me going, they didn’t even want me to retire. The staff and the nurses didn’t want me to go, we live good,” Callender-Foster told the gathering as she also recalled making a weekly salary of $22.88. “It was a lot of money and used to buy a lot of things.”

Originally from the St Joseph community of Chimborazo, she was later raised by her grandmother in Carrington Village, St Michael.

Relatives spoke in glowing terms of the mother of five (one daughter deceased), grandmother of 11, great-grandmother of 23 and great-great-grandmother of five.

Granddaughter Achacky Callender said Callender-Foster had raised her from the age of 11 when her mother – the centenarian’s daughter – died.

“She take care of me from since then. She use her money to send me to school. I always got her in my prayers. She is the reason I am in the position I am today,” she said.

Daughter Lynda Callender added that her mother helped many families in her neighbourhood when they needed someone to watch their children while they pursued further education.

She also spoke about her mom’s frequent instructions to her children, whom she raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to pray and put God in everything they did.

“Every night she made sure that we read. She bought a set of books called Bedtime Stories and she made sure that everyone would say their prayers before we go to sleep,” she said.

The centenarian thanked Dame Sandra for visiting her and expressed joy at being able to see another birthday.

“I am very happy. I am giving God the thanks, I am giving God the praise, I am giving him the glory,” she declared.

The president was thankful to celebrate with Callender- Foster, saying: “I am always grateful and happy to be with centenarians because we tend to take a lot of things for granted. We have to be grateful for persons like her who worked with such diligence to bring Barbados to the stage it is. They are the true builders of Barbados.” (LG)