101-year-old Clarrisa Marston is living her best life and can now look back at some of the wise decisions she made while raising her children. Among them is the fact that she brought them up in the “fear and admonition of the Lord.”
A God-fearing woman, Marston, who lives at William’s Lane, Old Harbour Road, St. Catherine, said she grew up seeing her grandmother give unconditional love to others, even giving of her last. Her children are more than those who came from her womb, and so she embraces every child that comes across her path with the same love and dedication she imparts to her own.
Filled with love and zeal for young people, she offers one key piece of advice: “Seek God, give your life to Him before it is too late, and go to church.”
Speaking about today’s generation, she acknowledges that they are now growing up in different times surrounded by a lot of distractions. She laments the fact that there is no real love, and she surmises that this is what has led to the lawlessness taking place in the country.
“It is so different from our days. They do not show respect to the elders or have manners. In my days, we were respectful to everyone,” she shared with Freedom Come Rain. Continuing, she said, words like “please” and “thank you” were common, and children would be sent to church. She noted that parents are no longer sending out their children to church, and they are not going themselves. Marston, reflecting on today’s generation and times, said it is so different from her days, as she highlights the lawlessness and lack of love for each other.
Marston’s daughter said her mother is “one of a kind.” In her glowing commendations, she remembers her mother going to work, stating that she was always immaculate in her high-heeled shoes.
“Mamma is a very kind person and would feed anyone who came into her presence. Do not even talk about praying. She is God-fearing. My mother is a prayer warrior and will always pray whenever you are in her presence. If we are not wearing a hat, she would cover our head and anoint us from the crown of our head to the soles of our feet,” Marston revealed.
Sharing a memory, she said there was a man who sat at the front of a grocery store on Wellington Street who her mother used to feed. She assisted that young man until someone on a bus, going to the country, recognised him and told his family where he was. “They came to get him. My mother got clothes for him, and they washed him off and took him to Kingston to get his mental health taken care of,” said Burial.
This aspect of her mother’s kindness has now ‘rubbed off’ on her, as she informed that her siblings now help in whatever way they can. When it comes to her culinary skills, Burial said her mother’s curried fish was at the top. She recalls her picking the bones out for her. Just thinking about it, Burial said her mouth was watering.
Dorothy Minott, another of Marston’s daughters, remembers the Christian values imparted to her and doing the “works of mercy.”
“We were to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give water to those who were thirsty. Give shelter to those who are in need. Several times, she put up relatives and friends who were travelling from the country to do business in Kingston. Some spent the night, up to a week, or beyond,” she highlighted.
Minott shared that her mother was a good listener, and it would be the norm to see many friends or relatives stopping by to unload their burdens and receive comforting words and prayers. A mother herself, Minott, informed that she has now passed on those moral values to her children and asked them to do likewise.
“Mama instilled in us to love one another. We were not to fight against each other but to be at peace with everyone at all times. We were not to envy anyone for what he or she has but to strive to get our own in a legal way. Time and time again, she told us that she got the opportunity to go to England when she was younger, but she did not leave because she loved us so much that she could not leave us with anyone to go away and leave us to suffer,” Minott reminisced.
With an example like that, she revealed that she too got the opportunity to study abroad but turned it down as she didn’t want to leave her children behind. That training has been passed on to her grandchildren, including Monique Barrett, who was eager to share her thoughts about her grandmother.
“I grew up seeing grandma giving unconditionally to others, even from her last. It was an everyday thing for her to be engaged in prayer and for me to eat healthy,” she revealed.
Marston who is surrounded by family, including her very dedicated granddaughter Barrett, have no regrets on the way she has been living her life and would not change a thing if she had a chance to do things differently. She is convinced it is that kind of upbringing that has seen her children make something of themselves in life.
Barrett, in sharing memories of her grandmother, said there was so much she admired about her, not the least of which was her habit of praying and how much she enjoyed worshipping the Lord.
“She is a blessing to me; she also schooled me. She is a very disciplined lady who doesn’t play with her God. My grandmother loves to cook; she would cook for the entire community,” she shared. A memory that stands out for Barrett was seeing her grandmother cook with her favourite seasonings: curry, black pepper, all-purpose, onion, scallion, and tomato.
“I just love when my grandmother cooks rice and peas; you can eat it without any meat,” she noted.
She is pleased she was able to bring joy to Marston, who, she said, never failed to remind her to give her life to the Lord before it is too late.
“She would say, Monique, make sure you give yuh life to God and go to church with the kids. It was a joy for her when I surrendered my life to God,” she revealed. There is never a dull moment where the centenarian is concerned. Barrett shared one of those moments as she explained that her grandmother detests porridge and would complain when it was given to her.
“She would say, ‘After me no sick or me na go dig post hole enuh; mi nuh want any porridge,’ and I would smile,” the granddaughter recounted.
