Vivian recalled that she was a student of the then Gingerland Girls School. She said after marriage she had moved from Hitman, Gingerland to Rices and was the mother of three children, but one died some years ago.
Although calm and seemingly peaceful, her two surviving children were both ill at the time of the interview and she said, “It is a difficult time for me” as she walked majestically from the chair to show us some pictures.
The centenarian said she had no picture of her marriage and wished there were as many photographers then as currently seen. She said she would have taken 10 000 pictures per month and explained that in the olden days Nevisians had to travel to St. Kitts to have their photographs taken.
At this juncture of the interview, Vivian said she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Saviour in her twenties: “I was under conviction! On a Good Friday, I heard ‘don’t quench the spirit’. I gave up everything and asked God to control my life.” At the time of her decision, Rhoda Nisbett was her Pastor.
~~Adz:Left~~Vivian is convinced that her faith in God is a major contributing factor to her long life. She has been hospitalised only once due to a burn. She eats most foods and her favourite drink is Lucozade. Vivian does not wear pampers, uses the bathroom like any other youthful person and does not require help to move around her house.
When the phone rings, she wakes up from wherever she is, picks it up and enjoys healthy conversations with those who would have called. And what is most astonishing is that she read her Bible every day without the aid of glasses.
Pastor Browne spoke highly of Vivian: “She is a shining example to all of us. She is steadfast in her faith and acknowledges that it is God who has given her such a long life. She also enquires about the other elderly persons and wants to know how they are doing.”
Her special message to mothers as they celebrate Mothers’ Day is: “Train a child in the way they should go; when they are old they will not depart from it.” She also recommended Christian values to mothers: “A godly mother is not a hypocrite. Christian life makes you shine like the morning star. Talk right, live right and love your neighbour. Even if somebody hurts you, you have to love them. I was trained under a godly mother.”
