Marie Afflick of Belle Castle, Portland, scored a ‘100 not out’ when she celebrated her 100th birthday among scores of family and friends at a special event held in her honour at the Belle Castle Seventh-day Adventist Church last month.

The second of eight children, of which she is the only survivor, Afflick is described as a peaceful, loving, kind, quiet, and easy-going individual.

“She is very understanding, a confidante; we could relate to her more than our parents. She will tell us some things about life that they will not tell us,” said family friend Thelma Percy.

In her tribute to Afflick,  who is affectionately called ‘Miss Marie’ Percy, she said “I love her, and she is my best friend. Our two yards, up to now, don’t even have a fence.”

Afflick, she said, has lived in the community for most of her life, except for a few years when she was forced to move to St Thomas after the land she was living on was sold.

“Her bigger sons, who migrated, bought back the land when he discovered what happened and then he sent back for her. My father had to ride his horse to Willows Field in St Thomas to get her and take her home,” she recalled.

Afflick, she said, is a very skilful craft worker who used to crochet and make mats as well as her own clothing.

“She loved working at nights. In the nights you will hear her singing and the bangles making noise as she worked throughout the night. By daylight she will show you what she has made,” she said.

According to Percy, Afflick, at 100 years old, still reads and clearly remembers everybody.

“The only problem is that now she can’t hear so well, but she is a confidante and can keep a secret. She has her own code to identify persons. She used to run the community partner and she was a good banker,” she told the Jamaica Observer North East.

Great grandniece Dion Thompson-Armstrong said Afflick has always been one to encourage young people. “She was a community activist who would teach us to do the folk songs and to crochet and make hats from wool,” she said, adding that her great grand aunt passed on her skill to a lot of residents.

Pastor Geovani Franklyn of Belle Castle Seventh-day Adventist Church said Afflick has lived a long and good life.

“It is the first time I’m meeting someone who is 100 years old, and it is a wonderful privilege to be celebrating this milestone with her. This is 100 years of Jamaica’s history,” he said.

He noted that God has preserved her life for a special reason, and so the residents should learn the craft from her so they can use it as a means of generating income.

Maureen Duncan, Afflick’s caregiver for 18 years, said she absolutely enjoys caring for the centenarian.

“We communicate through writing or reading my lips. It is fun being around her and I have learnt a number of things from her. She loves people around her,” she said.

Oscar Percy, a cousin, describes Afflick as a village historian.

“Miss Marie is a village historian, when you want to know who is related to who and all the family history just go to her. She has a very good memory and we need to document the knowledge she has, because it is history that can be of use to the community in the future. She has a hearing problem for years now, but she has very good eyesight. She reads without glasses and was able to string a needle up to recently. Her brain is still intact, no sign of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson. She is in excellent health,” she said.

Her grandson, Melroy Bignal, who lost his mom on the same day she turned 100, said Afflick is the best grandmother anyone could have.

“She does anything for anyone; people will come to her house to wash and even bathe without her even getting upset, although she has to pay the water bill. I am very happy to call her mother and grandmother at the same time,” he said, adding that he lived with her from he was 11 months old.

”I know her as a mother even before I know her as a grandmother. She is very dear to me, and I love her a lot and still call her ‘mama’ and I do my best to still care for her” he said.