16 Aug My Grandmother turns “100” years Old!

On July 7^th, I made the trip down to the COVID-19 infested hotbed of South Florida to visit my great-grandmother Birdella “Bertha” Bennett.  Just over a century ago, we lived in a world where Black people didn’t have access to or trust hospital care. That means that there weren’t accurate birth records kept on people. This is the time during World War I when the United States of America was at war with Germany. This was a time that the war actually was a good thing for the American economy because of the jobs created due to the increase business needs to supply the war, especially in the industries of agriculture and textiles. My great-grandmother was born in a small town called Scotia in South Carolina. In the town she was born in there was no hospital or medical facility there, so she was born through a midwife. Actually, there wasn’t a facility that kept records of births in the town she was born in, so those records had to be sent to the nearby town of Hampton, SC. My great-grandmother was born and raised in that town, working as child and going to school. When my great-grandmother moved to Florida, she received a license with a birthdate of June 1922. It was later updated that her birth date of July 7, 1920. My father later discovered a census document from January 1920 that stated my great-grandmother was 2 1/2 years old then. Yet, on July 7^th she celebrated what is recorded as her 100th birthday.

I learned so much about my great-grandmother that I hadn’t know or heard of ever before. I learned that my great-grandmother actually lived in Detroit for a while and then moved to Savannah, GA before moving to Florida. When she moved to Florida, she ended up working as a custodian for the Broward County School Board for almost 40 years. I never really knew the road that my great-grandmother traveled to Florida or really what made her come down here in the first place with my grandfather. I learned that she ended up moving to Florida to follow a pastor who was starting a church in Fort Lauderdale. It’s just amazing and daunting to grasps what experiences my great-grandmother has had over a 100-year life span. My great-grandmother was born without the right to vote, eat anywhere she wants, without access to fair housing, without fair wage, being able to drink out of the same water fountain as white people and more. She lived through the Great Depression, World War II and the Civil Rights movement. She had to leave home and take care of her son, travel across the country on her own and find ways to survive. Yet, somehow her path led her to Florida where she would become the matriarch of a church organization, develop relationships with one of the top lawyers in state history, and become a known figure in the Black Christian community. She would live to see her son live and build a family and see 3 generations be born after her, and there is a possibility she may see a 4^th generation born after her. She has outlived all of her siblings and even her own son. She has lived through 18 presidents and only had the ability to vote for half of them. She’s seen more life than I could ever imagine, and I didn’t understand the magnitude of longevity of life until that day.

Well, the celebration she stated was the best birthday celebration ever. My great-grandmother lives in an assisted living home, and on Friday’s she’d attend a senior’s center where they care for assisted living patients, give them activities to do and allow them to socialize with others as well as the staff there. She really enjoys going to that center. So, the center decided that they would do a drive-by birthday celebration due to the COVID-19 restrictions to celebrate her birthday. I flew to be a part of it since she had the center to call me and ask for me to be there. So, when I arrived, the center doctors and nurses showed up with cards, gifts and speaker system to play music, which my great grandmother loves to hear when she goes to the center. They brought a bus load of people, danced around and sung happy birthday to her. The home she lives in had a cake made in her honor and she wore a crown. My immediate family came around, and sometime later part of her old church family showed up including a woman who she raised like a daughter. She sung some of her favorite hymns and songs and really enjoyed the crowd. She was the center of attention, and that’s what she loves to be. She loves the Lord and loves “talking junk” to everybody. She taught me how to write checks, put me in pre-school when I got on her nerves, always cooked for me (best cornbread ever), gave me a little monetary seed every time she saw me, told everyone she loved me, put me on display to her whole church because she was proud, and always wanted her “shugah”. She loves people and loves being “loved on”. She loves to be pampered and catered to, and loves starting stuff. She has lived an incredible life with stories I’m sure I’ll never know. Yet, that’s ok by me because I love her just the same. This is what 100 years of living looks like. Happy 100^th Birthday Grandma Bennett! Or… Happy 103^rd real birthday.