A century worth to remember

“I was born in Nort’n Ireland…” her posture changes and she’s suddenly full of an unexpected energy, which radiates through her. Harriet McAlister’s face looks years younger as she smiles and her eyes twinkle curiously behind her thick glasses. After 100 years her eyesight isn’t what it used to be and yet, those eyes seem so very bright as she stares off into a past that only she can see.

“Oh yes, I was born in Nort’n Ireland – there where the grass grows green.”
The thick accent coats her words and paints a picture of indescribable beauty. The lush green fields and the smell of rain – Harriet still dreams about, and the farm where she was born and raised.

The year was 1914.
This year saw the start of World War I.

Sir Ernest Shackletons’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set sail on the Endurance from Plymouth in an attempt to cross Antarctica.
Cover of magazine; London Opinion first carried the iconic drawing by Alfred Leete, of Lord Kitchener with the recruiting slogan: ‘Your Country Needs You’.

And the German Army invaded neutral Belgium, followed by the declaration of war by the United Kingdom on the German Empire.
This was the year in which Harriet was born.

“I don’ remember much of the war,” Harriet’s brow crinkles as she thinks back. “I remember the aeroplanes that flew past us in the sky. Yes, I do. An’ I remember the Zeppelin aircraft arriving in the sky.”

Harriet’s thoughts take her back to her life on the farm, where she lived with her mother, father, three bothers and six other sisters.
“Me father was a blacksmith and a farmer, so we were well provided for,” Harriet recalls. “Me mother was a dressmaker an’ made such lovely clothes.”

Harriet had always loved her home and, even after most of her siblings left, she stayed to take care of her mother and help on the farm.
“We were part o’ this village, where every’ne did somethin’. There were blacksmiths, shoemakers, dressmakers…” she trailed off.
“I remember my younger years growin’ up, we had to fetch water for the house from the well outside. It was only later tha’ we had pipes in the house,” Harriet said, her mouth pulling up in a smile again. “It was green an’ pleasant there – an’ I loved the rain.”

Harriet met her husband John Craig McAlistar, also a farmer, and got married in 1937. They stayed in Ireland until 1990, when they moved to South Africa. Harriet explained that life was very different for her then and she always missed her home. “Me husband passed away,” Harriet’s eyes glazed over as her mind fills with the last memories of John, 17 years ago. “I miss him terribly.”
Her daughter, Mary, has taken care of her since she moved to eMalahleni in 1996.

Harriet now resides at Immergroen and celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday, July 6 with her family and friends who came from near and far to celebrate this momentous occasion with her.

“They’re scattered thru’ ought, some in Australia, England, Holland,” Harriet laughs again, telling of her long extended family.
She is proud to be part of five generations, with two children, four grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

Harriet is lovingly referred to as ‘Granny’ by her long-time friend, Yvonne Ray, and the other inhabitants at Immergroen. “She is really just a fabulous lady,” they would all agree.

After living through two World Wars and experiencing life in a different era, Granny Harriet can say that she lived ‘very well’. Yes indeed.
She leans forward in her chair, to whisper the secret to her success in reaching 100 years: “I’ve always had heart-problems an’ a bit o’ high blood pressure… bu’ the Doctor recon I have a very good constitution,” she adds then, grinning from ear to ear.