Centenarian: God has all the secrets to my long life on earth

Centenarian Adeline Francis says God has all the secrets for her long life on earth.{{more}}

“Is God; God has all my secrets. Not me. It is Jesus who has my secret to living this long… Jesus, Jesus, Jesus knows all about my troubles… Hallelujah,” a vibrant Francis said on February 21, during her birthday celebration.

Born on February 21, 1913, Francis celebrated her 100th birthday at her North Union home, surrounded by five of her seven children and two grandchildren.

Governor General Sir Frederick Ballantyne, who was also present, brought greetings on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.

“God’s richest blessings to you Ms Francis and a happy 100th birthday to you from Queen Elizabeth II and myself.”

Sir Frederick also commended the family members of the centenarian for their love and support of their mother and for taking good care of her.

“I want to thank those who are taking care of you, because without them our senior citizens wouldn’t live that long.

“All the people who I’ve seen live to see 100, they all have a strong faith in God and that is a good sign,” the Governor General added.

Adeline, as she is commonly called by relatives and community members has no known medical conditions.

Samuel Peters, Adeline’s eldest son, attributes his mother’s good health to foods such callaloo soup, crayfish, arrowroot starch and madongo.

“The food today is nothing like before. More chemicals are added, so everything is different these days,” he noted.

Francis is being cared for by her granddaughter, Heather Peters, a retired nurse who resided in the United Kingdom and returned home to care for her grandmother.

“She is my only living grandparent and today I am very happy to be here today with everybody celebrating this milestone in my grandmother’s life,” Heather, smiling from ear to ear, said,

Francis was a single mother and worked in the agricultural sector to support her children.

“At age 100, she still supports us in every way,” Ellie Francis, the third son, said.

“We thank God for mom. She worked very, very hard for all her children. She supports her children up to today. She is a very strong supporter of all her children. Our mom played the role of both mother and father. And she passed on a number of good values to her children and of course those are passed on to the grandchildren and great grandchildren and we are happy to share this moment with our dear mom.”

Following the short speeches, Francis was escorted by her granddaughter to her birthday cake made in the shape of the number 00.

Repeatedly saying “thank you, thank you,” Francis cut her cake and was the first to taste it as well.

“I eat anything that is given to me,” the centenarian said in a jovial voice.

George Scott Sr, Dorcas Griffin, Dennie Mathews and Sydney Scott are Francis’s other living children.

Alvin Scott, the seventh died in a car accident in 1975. (AA)