Celebrating 100 years

Life Is often compared to a book, and each year of life is like a chapter. If that is true, then one Sampson County resident will be blessed with a lot of chapters in her story.

Hosea Woodall Cain, 99, of Garland, is celebrating her 100th birthday today.

In an interview last week, Cain, born in 1924, said she has seen a lot over her years, events such as the changing of five British monarchs, 17 U.S. presidents, the assassination of a U.S. president, the rise and fall of World War II, the Korean War as well as the Cold War, and she has been a witness to the boom of technology, and even the landing on the moon.

Cain now resides at Southwood Nursing and Retirement not because of ill health but because she wants to be there, she said.

“My 100 is old, isn’t it? she asked, rhetorically during the interview, smiling. “Whew,” said Cain, as she spoke about her childhood and what it was like to grow up in her family.

She was one of nine children born to Millard and Hettie Woodall. “Lord, I don’t know how my mom kept all of us children straight. I would have gone crazy,” laughed Cain.

Growing up in a rural community meant work for the 100-year-old. “I hated working outdoors, always did; I always preferred to stay in and do housework, but back in those days, we didn’t know what an opinion was as a child. If your parents told you to wake up and crop tobacco, guess what? — you got up and cropped tobacco or got up and picked cotton.”

Sundays were reserved for church with her family. They attended Tees Chapel FWB Church. “My, I have always enjoyed going to church and hearing a good choir sing; there is nothing better, I tell you,” said Cain. Four of the Cains brothers started a quartet and sang all over North Carolina, and she said she enjoyed following and listening to the many groups that would be at the sings.

Cain also enjoyed school, first attending Brogden Elementary School and then Princeton High School, with English being her favorite subject. “I enjoyed learning; it was great and sure did beat being outdoors, and I had a lot of friends in school,” Cain recalled. When not in school or out working, Cain enjoyed living the life any teenager would recognize today, attending social gatherings as well as going to the movies, her favorite being “Gone With The Wind”. She also found a fondness for baking, with chocolate cake being one of her specialties.

After school, she went to work. “There just were not a lot of options for girls,” remembered Cain, an issue that led to her going to Norfolk, Va. to work in the shipyards where she cleaned airplane cables. ” Oh, the shipyards were fun. All of us girls had a blast while working. We were like a big group of sisters,” said Cain.

While she was working at the shipyards, she said, she caught the attention of Navy sailor Ernest Cain, her future husband. “He took me out on dates, and he was very handsome, so I decided I better anchor this sailor before someone else did,” Cain said, a gentle smile playing at her lips. They married in 1945, returned to the Garland area, and had three children — one son and two daughters. “I stopped at three; I was not as keen on having the amount my mamma had, and three was an easy number to count,” said Cain. She and her husband were married for 50 years before Ernest passed away in 1995.

Cain lived alone until a few years ago when she made the move to Southwood “for company,” and she enjoys staying there, she attested.

“I enjoy being able to see other people and having people to talk to,” she admitted.

When asked what she thinks has kept her going all these years, Cain points to her faith. “God, I trust him, and he guides me. I have always put God first, and I think that’s why he has kept me going for so long,” she stressed.

The centenarian also gave a few tips on living to be 100 years old. “Eat plenty of bacon and biscuits, stay happy and prayer,” said pointed out.

In her spare time, Cain said she enjoys a good nap here and there and is never one to turn down food, especially desert.