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Newtown man is latest centenarian
With a reminder from Reverend Kenneth Applewhaite of the St. Thomas Presbyterian Church to wait on the Lord, the newest addition to the centenarian fraternity, Mr. James Benjamin, yesterday celebrated what he described as a “another blessed day.”
“I was blessed from the day I was born; from the day I was born I knew it. I had no doubt I was blessed,” said an elated Uncle Benjie, (a name he is affectionately called), as family members and close friends gathered at his 150 Da Silva Street, Newtown, Georgetown, home to commemorate his 100 years of existence.
The cogent senior citizen attributes his longevity to good eating habits, characterised by his use of lots of fish, fruits and vegetables. He is also confident that his decision to quit smoking may have helped extend his years as well.
“This is good management and good care; once you’re caring yourself and not eating too much food you can live long…I don’t drink (alcohol), I used to smoke and I stopped smoking now about four years,” Uncle Benjie disclosed.
In offering a brief but coherent synopsis of his working life, the centenarian revealed that he started working at the age of 19 at one of Guyana’s longstanding companies, Banks DIH. His career as supervisor at the renowned Brewery would span several decades, lasting until he was 88 years of age.
“I was the supervisor responsible for sanitation for the entire block. Any department that had a problem with water or needed something to fix…I was in charge…and it was a lot of work…”
Offering his perception about the youths of today, Uncle Benjie pointed out that “based on how the days going the young generation got to very, very much develop themselves, otherwise they can’t make it…”
He also even alluded to the crime situation with specific reference to a recent news report of a father who hacked his own children to death, a state of affairs he regarded as “extremely disturbing.”
Uncle Benjie blows out the candles on one of his three birthday cakes, one of which came compliments of Banks DIH.
Born on October 13, 1911, James Benjamin has been an ardent believer in God and has great love for his family. It was in 1968 he wedded his sweetheart, Lucille, who was already a mother of five, with whom he shared a wonderful life until 10 years ago when she passed away. Although their union did not yield any children he was an excellent father to his wife’s children so much so that today they are ensuring that his latter days are comfortably spent. He is now step-grandfather, great grandfather and great-great grandfather to scores.
Though all of his faculties are well intact, his old age has restricted him from climbing stairs, thus he is limited to dwelling in the bottom flat of the home he shares with his extended family. He revealed too that his vision of recent has become somewhat blurred due to cataract. However this does not prevent him from being a cheerful and very outgoing individual.
According to his eldest step-daughter, Shirley Langevine, a typical day for Uncle Benjie includes watching television, with a special focus on cricket and the daily newscast.
“He keeps well abreast with the news and current affairs…he can even talk about politics with you,” she disclosed.
The television set has remained his main avenue to following his favourite cricket team, the West Indies, since according to him “I am a born West Indian.”
In fact, Uncle Benjie was up at 3am yesterday watching a game with Bangladesh where “the West Indies lose the toss but they win the match by 40 runs,” he related with evident pride.
Presenting himself as a true son of the soil, the good-natured centenarian reflected that through his late wife he could have migrated to England years ago but refused to do so since according to him “there is no place like home. I born and grow here so I want to die right here. What I can do in this country I can’t do in the next country…I can get up and go and walk about in the night, but I can’t go and do that in another man country…”
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