Article: Honoring a Long Life? But She’s Just 30 Plus 71

[Guest guest]

Hi all

this story reminds me of my great aunt who lived until age 95, and of my aunt

who died at 90 last month. both always wore make up and dressed well if going

out in public.

cheers,

Arturo

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/nyregion/27barbados.html?hp

Honoring a Long Life? But She’s Just 30 Plus 71

Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

Among the ceremonial duties of the consul general of Barbados in New York is a

charming custom rooted in the colonial history of that island nation. When a

Barbadian here turns 100, the consul attends the birthday party, and each

subsequent one, bearing flowers and a proclamation celebrating the person’s

life and longevity.

Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

Eurita Xavier, above, a Barbadian in New York, with Lennox O. Price, the consul

general, when she turned 102 this year.

The ritual expresses appreciation for the elderly and pride in Barbados, which

claims to have one of the highest percentages of centenarians in the world.

One Barbadian, however, is not playing along.

Mae Bishop is 101. According to her birth certificate, she will turn 102 on May

16. But with the feistiness and independence that have characterized her long

life, she has steadfastly refused to acknowledge that she has lived a century.

Last year, when the consulate asked if the consul general, Lennox O. Price,

could make a birthday call to her home in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, her family

did not respond. The consulate has put in another request this year, but family

members say they are unlikely to grant it, in deference to what Mrs. Bishop’s

younger daughter called her “little idiosyncrasy.â€

“It’s vanity,†said the daughter, Colga Hylton-Springer, explaining that

her mother, who was born in Barbados, had learned a hard lesson here in her

adopted country. “In this society, you are over the hill, and she never felt

over the hill.â€

For Mrs. Bishop’s 100th birthday in 2008, the family held a party and allowed

the previous consul general, a family friend, to attend. But it decided to

respect Mrs. Bishop’s sensitivities by sending invitations that referred to

“the 70th anniversary of her 30th birthday.â€

Mrs. Bishop did quick work on the greeting cards she received that mentioned a

100th birthday, tearing out the offending number and leaving the rest of each

card intact. During the party, Ms. Hylton-Springer recalled, her mother turned

to a friend and said, “I don’t know what they’re going to do when I’m

100, because they’re making such a big fuss now.â€

State Senator , who represents Crown Heights, presented a proclamation

that was careful to specify “the 70th anniversary of her 30th birthday.†But

the Barbadian consul at the time, Odle-Baril, unaware of the seriousness

of the wording, did not take the same precautions. Her proclamation heralded the

100th.

Mrs. Bishop never read the document. “We kind of skirted around that, so she

wasn’t aware of it,†Ms. Odle-Baril said.

On a recent afternoon, receiving a reporter at her home, Mrs. Bishop said she

was feeling under the weather and not inclined to talk much. “I don’t feel

good at all,†she said cordially. “But thank you for coming.â€

Yet Ms. Hylton-Springer and her sister, Hazel Bishop is, say she has made

her position clear. “She is still fighting, not resigning herself to

others,†Ms. Hylton-Springer said. She added, “You have to respect it.â€

The New York consul’s visits, which began in 2004, mirror a long tradition in

Barbados, where the governor general, who serves as the head of state, pays a

call to residents on their 100th birthday, and then every anniversary from the

105th on. At the centenarian’s request, the governor can also solicit a

congratulatory card from Queen II of Great Britain, which governed

Barbados until its independence in 1966.

“We love our centenarians!†exclaimed Layne, the governor’s

private secretary. “We’re very proud of them.â€

Last year alone, 32 Barbadians turned 100, Ms. Layne said. The oldest living

Barbadian is E. Sisnett, a retired sugar factory engineer, who celebrated

his 110th birthday in February. His party was attended by about 200 relatives

and friends, said Dawn Sobers-Prawl, a granddaughter who flew in from Brooklyn

for the occasion.

In New York, consular officials say they are aware of at least four Barbadian

centenarians in the region, and of three others who have died in recent months.

The current consul’s most recent visit was to Eurita Xavier, who turned 102 on

Feb. 25. A winter storm forced a rescheduling, and on March 3, Mr. Price and his

cultural and community affairs officer, -Lorde, showed up at the

Isabelle Geriatric Center, a nursing home in East Harlem, with a bouquet and a

proclamation. Ms. Xavier, an immigrant who worked for many years as a

seamstress, read part of the tribute aloud.

Courtesy of Hazel Bishop is

Mae Bishop, left, last year, with her daughters, Hazel Bishop is, left, and

Colga Hylton-Springer.

As he tucked into a chocolate cupcake, Mr. Price said, “These are individuals

who have made a contribution to Barbadian society, and it’s our way to honor

that contribution, to let them know they have not been forgotten.â€

Being remembered has never been a problem for Mr. Price’s holdout, Mrs.

Bishop. Her family says she has always been strong-minded, quick-witted and

fastidious about her appearance. “Even 10 years ago, she wouldn’t come down

the stairs without her wig, her eyebrow pencil, her makeup,†Ms.

Hylton-Springer said. “And she always wore heels.â€

She came to New York in 1957 after her daughters graduated from high school. The

move was intended to reunite the family — her husband, a merchant seaman, had

based himself in the city — and to give the girls a better life, Ms.

Hylton-Springer said.

Mrs. Bishop worked in the hotel industry, retiring in 1976 as an assistant

housekeeper in the linen room at the former Delmonico Hotel on Park Avenue. She

has lived since 1966 in a two-story town house she owns.

Mrs. Bishop remained robust and extremely healthy into her 90s, her daughters

said, and always looked far younger than her years. But over time she became

self-conscious about her age.

“She started to say she wasn’t really that age, that her mother died when

she was young — which was true — and that nobody knew her real age,†Ms.

Hylton-Springer said. The birth certificate, she would say, was wrong.

“We humor her because she deserves it,†the daughter said.

These days, Mrs. Bishop suffers from arthritis and fatigue and spends most of

the time in her bedroom, going downstairs for special occasions; Ms. is

takes care of her with the help of health care aides.

Barbadian consular officials are still hoping they will be invited to attend

this year’s party, which Ms. Hylton-Springer said would be a small family

gathering. As for mentioning their mother’s age, the daughters employed a

strategy last year that seemed to work.

“We didn’t say anything,†Ms. Hylton-Springer said. “Everybody knows.â€