WHEN a smile transforms Mabel Richardson’s face, it’s hard to believe she celebrated her 101st birthday in July.

Her welcoming smile gives a hint of her true personality and tells the tale of a generous soul who has lived a satisfying life. After more than a century she still has a zest for life and love for others.

Her rule of thumb, over the years, she told JIS News, was “to treat people the way you would like them to treat you; and if you don’t have anything good to contribute, then shut up”.

Born on July 14, 1902, Richardson spent her early years with her grandmother, Helen Searchwell-Moncrieff, her stepfather and eight siblings in Leith Hall, St Thomas. That was her family structure until 1911, when she left Jamaica and travelled to Cuba where she worked as a cook for the next two years. She went to the United States in 1921 where she stayed with her uncle, Bishop Ernest Robertson, in New York.

Throughout the years, Richardson has worked as a cook, cosmetologist, dressmaker and nanny.

“I did anything for an honest dollar,” she said, recounting the days when she earned US$15 per week. “I have always been self-sufficient and, thankfully, I was able to return to Jamaica in 1960 to build my mother a good home.”

She added. “While I may never have the chance to return to Jamaica again, my nieces will continue to use the house as their own.”

Though she never had any children of her own, the many certificates of appreciation and ‘mother of the year’ awards which adorn the walls of her Harlem apartment, show the positive impact she has had on young people over the years.

“I may not have been lucky (to have children), but I raised so many of them over the years,” she told JIS News.

Her ‘children’, along with members of her church, gathered in New York earlier this year, to celebrate her birthday.

Known for always giving sage advice while being kind and forthright, Richardson said she has no regrets about how she has lived her life.

“I have done enough, don’t you think?” she asked with an impish flash of her wonderful smile.

A widow since 1988, Richardson’s primary caretaker is Rev Alfred Drake of the African Orthodox Pro Cathedral Church in Harlem, where she is still a member.

Despite her advanced age, she is free from illness and disease.

“My only complaint is that I have arthritis,” she said, “I must thank God and the kind friends and church people who stand by me.”