Silvin Osbourne Leslie hits 100, takes the COVID-19 jab
Published:Wednesday | September 29, 2021 | 2:39 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
A RESILIENT, cheerful and supportive Silvin Louise Osbourne Leslie reached the milestone age of 100 yesterday.
Leslie, the eldest of five siblings, has a 95-year-old brother who resides in Canada.
She was raised in Thompson Town, Clarendon, where she had a playful childhood and hopped on every opportunity to visit her aunts and grandmother.
“I liked mangoes, bananas and I used to play football and netball. We never had to buy chicken because my mother raised chickens and she also sold eggs,” she said briefly about her early years.
After leaving Thompson Town All-Age School, she was trained in hairdressing in Kingston and went on to operate a salon on Windward Road for several years.
“I used to get plenty of customers and I was very independent,” Leslie said, adding that she trained and hired hairdressing assistants.
During the busy Christmas season, Leslie recalled that there were times she left home and did not return until the following day.
“I slept right in the shop on a chair. When people came to get their hair done, it was done well and they come back and they bring somebody else,” she said.
A devoted member of St Gabriel’s Anglican Church in May Pen, Clarendon, she journeyed from Kingston at least once a month for service.
Leslie told The Gleaner that before bed every night, she sings the hymn, Jesus loves me, this I know. A mother to four sons, she had her first child at age 40.
“I have good children. They treat me well, they give me everything. I love all of them,” she said, declaring that she has no favourite.
Leslie got married a few years after she began having children, and with the encouragement of her husband, she retired in her 40s to spend more time with the children.
She closed the salon but accommodated a few clients at home. Her husband predeceased her 30 years ago, at age 68.
The centenarian showed resilience in the face of many challenges, including breast cancer, pulmonary embolism and poor circulation.
The cancer survivor was diagnosed 45 years ago and underwent a mastectomy.
Her son, Hewlett Leslie, recalled that at six years old, he came home from school and saw her ironing, even as tears streamed down her face.
“She told us that she had cancer and that she was gonna remove the breast. My mom has always been open with all four of us. To this day, she will say, ‘My baby, does my left side and my right side look even?” Hewlett shared.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Leslie travelled frequently to the United States to visit her three sons and two grandchildren.
She was hesitant about taking the COVID-19 vaccine because of her age, but after learning that her sons had taken the jab, she followed suit.
Hughton, who lives with his mom in Jamaica, highlighted that she has been supportive during “peaks and troughs” and he is blessed to see her reach the milestone of 100 years. Anthony shared that his mother often says: “Anybody hurt my sons, hurt me”.
The love she has extended towards them has influenced the close-knit relationship they share as brothers.
Hewlett told The Gleaner that his mom is quiet and she listens well.
“My best memory with her is playing dandy shandy as a child and not knowing that my mom was nearly 60 years old when I was about 11 or 12, but she was running with me and playing like she was 25 years old,” he said with a chuckle.