On October 14, Daisy Tracey celebrated her 102nd birthday. Her strength at this age is unbelievable as the centenarian is capable of taking a bath by herself and doing her own laundry.

“Thank God nobody no have to do dem fi mi yet,” the jovial centenarian from Barrett Hall outside Irons Mountain in St Ann said.

If there are any doubts about her age, Tracey’s children, who are all senior citizens, can assure that their mother is 102 years old.

When asked about the reason behind her many years, the still very alert Tracey said “the hands of the Lord”.

“I don’t have tongue to give the Lord thanks because if it wasn’t him I couldn’t live that long,” she added. Tracey said she is not aware of any family member who has lived as long as she has.

At 102 years old, Tracey, although unable to move around strongly, is still able to wash her clothes.

“Mi sit down on mi bottom and squeeze (wash) them out,” she said.

The mother of five children, all of whom are still alive, said she has no major health complications apart from issues with her blood pressure.

At 102 years old, Tracey, popularly known as Miss Daisy, enjoys eating everything, but her favourite is breadfruit.

“I eat every food whilst you have it and it alright…one thing I love the most and is breadfruit, roast or boil,” she said.

Tracey also believes she manages to look younger than her years because of the care she receives from her children.

“Mi children dem care mi enuh,” she said. She said she often hears she looks younger than her over 100 years.

Tracey also believes she has been able to appear younger because of the usual medicine of laughter she engages in.

“Mi is a friendly woman; when people come around me, mi give them nuff joke,” she said.

During her younger years Tracey informed that she was also a very hard-working woman. While she worked as a domestic helper, she was also a very active farmer.

“In a those days, you have children, so you have fight for dem,” she said.

Tracey said she was not the stay-at-home type of woman.

“When you see a boyfriend and him love you, you put together and make life,” she said.

She believed in working to sustain her family and never welcomed the idea of being a housewife.

“Stay home when you have children to take care of?” Tracey asked. She believed in working alongside her husband, who predeceased her 20 years ago.

Having gone through 10 decades living in Jamaica, Tracey believes now is the worst she has seen.

“It is the roughest time, I ever see. Man a tek knife kill man like a animal. When mi was young you no see these things enuh,” Tracey said.