Wednesday, December 20 Edith Alberta Richards joined the ranks of more than 135,000 people worldwide who can say they have seen 100 years.

Below a steep hill, inside the hall at Mount Sailus Gospel Fellowship in Mount Sailus, St Andrew, family and friends gathered on a rainy afternoon to celebrate with Richards what her foster daughter Tracy Augustine called “a momentous occasion”.

At the front of the room in a large armchair, Richards, dressed in a pink suit and matching hat, sat upright, her right hand on a walking stick.

She surveyed the gathering with eyes that seemed easy to shut because of the limp, stretched skin above them.

“Ah feel alright,” Richards said to the occasional well-wisher who greeted her by asking how she was doing.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Augustine said, adding that the party was a tribute to how Richards “brought us up”.

Never having had any children of her own, Richards raised more than she or Augustine – who counted seven – could remember.

“I don’t feel no way different,” said Richards of her 100 years, “is only di han’ dem numb.”

Richards is a part of a fast-growing population group the United Nations terms the oldest-old, that is people 80 years or older. The United Nations also reports on its website that by 2050, there will be 2.2 million centenarians in the world, with the largest populations in China, the United States and Japan.

Born in Above Rocks, St Catherine in 1906 to parents who were both deacons at the Zion Hill Church there, Richards moved to Kingston as a young girl and later settled with her husband in Mount Sailus.

She said she ran a school there for years. Her niece, Olive Lue, said Richards was a postmistress for more than 45 years, up until she was about 90 years old.

Richards said her husband died a long time ago, which is typical of female centenarians, as women live longer than men. In 1998, for example, there were 386 female centenarians to 100 males, the United Nations reports.

Richards is also the eldest of her parents’ six children, and the only one still alive.

Locally, the 2001 Census reports 24,367 people aged 85 or older. The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) also reports that in 2005 there were more than 94,000 people aged 75 and older, but by 2010 that number is expected to drop to 68,100.

While she does not know if she will be around in 2010, Richards said she has enjoyed her life.

“You know, go to school, go to church, enjoy mi life. go to church,” Richards said, adding that she has not suffered from many ailments.

“No sugar, no pressure, jus’ old age, you know – so sometime di pain run through di body- mmm hmm.”

mccattyk@jamaicaobserver.com