Maas Justin still bowling at 104

 Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

CEDAR VALLEY, St Catherine:

JUSTIN NELSON was a consummate cricketer who cemented his place on the Rio Magno team as a fast bowler when he was in his 20s. The 104-year-old developed a love and skill for the sport while a student at the Jubilee Elementary School.

"Dem couldn't lick one six off my bowling! I was a bad bowler!" Nelson, born in Cedar Valley, a community neighbouring Rio Mango in northeast St Catherine, boasted.

In fact, it was while representing his team in a return match against Time and Patience in that community that he met Cislyn, whom he wedded in 1940.

"I used to buy and sell cows. I sell the calf of the third cow I buy for £8, and is soh mi pay for mi wedding!" Maas Justin, as Nelson is affectionately called, said proudly. This generated much laughter from his relatives and friends, sitting next to him on his veranda at his home in Dry River, Golden Grove, who were eager to talk about the impact the spirited senior citizen has had on their lives.

Gertrude Moore, principal of Kids Care Basic School, spoke glowingly about his livestock and large-scale cultivation of a variety of crops, as well as the countless times she and her children benefited from Nelson's produce.

"I got a lot of things from his farm. He was one of the biggest farmers in Golden Grove, and when I was having my children, I got cows' milk from him free of cost," Moore said.

Gratifying smile

Listening keenly, Maas Justin couldn't resist the temptation to interject.

"I give away a whole heap, plus I used to sell coco, negro yam, pear, cane, banana, and other things in Troja. I charter a cart man. After a while, plenty higglers used to come right here and buy my things," he said.

His grandnephew, 51-year-old Samuel Dilworth, wore a gratifying smile.

"Mi glad fi Uncle Justin, cause him encourage me in the farming, and is him mek me have cows right now, and I have goats, too. I work my farm on his land and it doing well," Dilworth said.

His niece, Eulalee Dilworth, is one of many he assisted to improve their literacy skills.

"Whenever time I didn't go to school, you here him call me 'Dil, come here with you book', and him make me repeat the lessons until I know them. And if I don't I get a few slaps!" the 82-year-old shared with The Gleaner.

With the aid of his walking stick, the vivacious senior soon joined his grandniece, Rosalee Dilworth-Myrie, outside, while she peeled a piece of cane for him.

"Uncle Justin's cane field was so big that we think we could steal cane and him wouldn't catch us," recounted Dilworth-Myrie. But him always hide, and as soon as we cut the cane and ready to leave, him come out and say, 'I catch you now'," she imitated in a deep, husky voice.

Though he had no biological children, Nelson fathered many, including his church brother, 82-year-old Percival Walker.

"My father died when I was 11 months old and I moved from his yard to my mother and him used to send me to shop and give me things," related Walker, a member of the Dry River Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Reservoir of knowledge

Also an Adventist, Dawn Lindo, Maas Justin's great-grandniece, often relies on the man many in the community describe as an all-rounder because of his reservoir of knowledge.

"When you are an Adventist, people always like to tell you certain things, so when I go out and I don't know the scriptures and people back me up, me just tell them wait, then contact Uncle Justin and get the answer and go back to them," she confessed.

The centenarian lost his wife in 2003, and Wilford Fairweather, his grandnephew, opted to become his caregiver.

"Him feed me, wash me clothes and look after me good, good," Maas Justin revealed.

"I don't find any fault with him. Him is like a father to me. Him was good to everybody, so I have to take care of him now," Fairweather, 65, told The Gleaner.

In his earlier years, Maas Justin was a renowned singer at funerals and nine-nights. Nowadays, he spends most of his time reading his Bible and telling detailed stories of his early working life and his days on the cricket pitch. Still able to socialise, he attended the funeral of a member of the community on October 1.

The golden ager is free from high blood pressure and diabetes. He is only bothered by a slight pain in his left side. Unapologeti-cally, he attributes his good health and longevity to his religious affiliation.

"If I wasn't an Adventist me wouldn't live so long!" he declared. "I use to eat plenty coco and banana and plenty pork, too," he chuckled. "That's before I turn Adventist. Now, is plenty chicken," he said.

rural@gleanerjm.com