Abraham Worrell grateful for 100 years of life

At 100 years old, Abraham Worrell measures life not in years, but in days; days of work, loss, survival and gratitude.

It's a philosophy that has carried the St Catherine native to a milestone few ever reach. Born on January 6, 1926, Worrell said the milestone was never something he anticipated.

"They took care of me. My friends and sons and niece and nephews came around, and we really had a good day," he said. "I didn't expect it, but living one day at a time... time just go along and we reach it."

Worrell is the father of seven children (one deceased), grandfather to nine, and great-grandfather to three. He was born and raised in the rural district of Content, where his parents lived and where he spent his early years.

"After a while I found a little place here [in Linstead] and started to build my home, and this is where I have been living ever since. That was over 40 years ago," he said. Life in those early years, he said, was far from easy.

"I do a little thing here and there, [but] it was a little hard. Nothing smooth these days, eno," he said.

A trained tailor by trade, Worrell later turned to farm work, both locally and overseas, spending time working on farms in the United States of America before returning home. After his return, he married his wife Ancelata in 1966, who he had known since childhood.

"I met her in the same district I am from in Content," he said. "We were basically neighbours who turned into lovers." The couple ran a successful wedding cake and catering business for many years in Linstead and the Corporate Area. But Ancelata died in 2022 after a prolonged illness.

"I didn't take it well," he said quietly. "But one day we shall part. She was sick for a while, didn't get better. I miss her." Worrell remains largely independent, moving around with the aid of a walking stick and completing small tasks on his own when necessary.

"Right now, I can't see too well, I can't hear so well, but I give thanks that I live to be here today," he said. "Sometimes when nobody is around, I have to move around and make my cup of coffee and fry an egg and eat, but someone always prepare my dinner." He has a love for coffee, saying that's what he drinks most of the time.

"Maybe that's the secret to such a long life, I don't really know," he joked.

Though he officially retired years ago, Worrell said he continued working until he was 92.

"I kind a slow down a little in the 90s," he told THE WEEKEND STAR. "The yam I plant around the back and plantain, I did a lot of different things."

One of the few times he was hospitalised came after a workplace accident.

"I was doing some roofing work for the citrus company. I fell off the roof and broke my hand. That was the first time I was in the hospital," he said. He then underwent surgery for a hernia and spent three day in hospital.

"Only those two times I remember going in the hospital," he said. "I'm a very healthy and strong man."

Over the last century, Worrell has lived through colonial Jamaica, Independence, numerous hurricanes, and rapid social and technological changes.

"Things and times have changed so much, and this one was the worst of them I have seen," he said, referring to Hurricane Melissa.

Christmas, once a major celebration in his household, now passes quietly since the death of his wife.

"Even Christmas that gone, I just take Christmas as another day," he said. "[My wife] used to put up the Christmas tree and stuff. She was very serious about her Christmas." Speaking on how technology has reshaped everyday life, he said he tries to adapt.

"Now we are using touch phones. I don't know much, but I have to welcome it because technology [is] running the world now," he said. "Many things going on [that] I don't understand, but I just have to try and keep up with it."

Asked about the secret to his long life, Worrell said there was no formula, only perseverance.

"I don't know the secret at all," he said. "I just live on, live on, live on. Life just go on and on."