CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (January 23, 2009) -- A buoyant Celian Ilene Powell a.k.a “Lilian Martin” turned 97 on Thursday January 22, at her Zion Village home and welcomed all to visit her next year in celebration of her 98 birthday.
Miss Powell an amputee for the last 31 years said she was happy and thankful to all who acknowledged her birthday and to God who had sustained her throughout the years.
The celebrant who is the grand mother of Nevis Island Administration Junior Minister Hon. Carlisle Powell was honoured by colleague Minister Hon. Hensley Daniel and other members of his Social Services (Senior Division) staff.
Mr. Daniel also presented her with fresh flowers and a certificate of appreciation as part of an ongoing programme which recognises the island’s senior citizens on their birthday for their contribution to the island’s overall development.
In brief remarks he congratulated the celebrant and said the Administration had recognised the importance of the programme because the seniors continued to serve as living testimonies to the island’s history.
“Our young people [are] coming in at a time when we have modern roads, modern schools and hospitals and various facilities they may assume those things were always there.
“It is people like Mrs. Powell who were working the fields of Nevis cutting down all the wood and treading all over Nevis to make life and that is why we want to thank them,” he said.
Mr. Daniel also thanked her for what he termed tough love when she raised her children and grand children, none of whom were in conflict with the law.
“That is something we have to be mindful of nowadays and we want to thank her for tough love,” he said.
The Minister also commented that though Mrs. Powell was incapacitated, she was fully contented and did not brood or decry her circumstances of life. Instead she had been able to pull herself up, dust herself off and continued to live, speak and enjoy life to its fullest.
He said those who had both legs yet complained and kept wondering what was wrong with them, they should take a page from Mrs. Powell’s book. With one leg, he said, she had maintained a strong, deep and abiding faith in God and had been able to remain very lucid and achieved 97 years.
Mr. Powell congratulated her on behalf of the other members of the family. He also used the moment to remember Mr. Llewellyn Newton a lay minister in the Gingerland Methodist church who passed away recently who over the years had played an important role in his grand mother’s birthday celebration and in their lives.
