SYLVIA Lyn celebrated her 100th birthday last Wednesday, but the sprightly centenarian said she feels half her age.

“I feel the same way as if I would be in my 50s; it’s just that the legs can’t carry me like before but I don’t mind,” Lyn told the Jamaica Observer during the celebration with family, close friends and church brethren at St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church in St Andrew.

Asked about the secret to longevity, Lyn said, “Trust in the Lord. Don’t overeat, try to eat the right things. Keep active and things will be okay.”

Unlike many senior citizens Lyn is adept at using a smartphone, though she admits, while bursting into laughter, that she’s “Not very good, but I can help myself a little bit.”

But her cousin Patricia Williamson told the Observer that the 100-year-old is always texting and making calls through the messaging service WhatsApp.

“She is savvy at using the smartphone and I remember when I called her straight and she said, ‘Yvonne, you should call me on WhatsApp, man.’ She is so meticulous at using the smartphone. She uses WhatsApp and sends text messages, and when she’s answering she does so like the young people — when you send her something to laugh about she send you the ‘Lol’. She is just marvellous,” said Williamson.

Also commenting on Lyn’s phone skills was her daughter Janica Lyn Fraser, who noted that Lyn will go through her contacts and sends a text to whoever she needs to.

“She can bring up the emojis [on WhatsApp] to put smiley faces in her messages,” said Lyn Frazer who noted that even though her mother suffers from arthritis and partial vision loss in her left eye, she is quite self-sufficient and has no major illnesses.

“She has those things but that’s it, no sicknesses. She is in good health, and she conducts her own affairs. She lives on her own and doesn’t have a helper. She is really one of a kind and is very self-sufficient. She loves her family and will do anything for us,” said the beaming daughter.

Lyn, who is from Claremont, St Ann, was married to Reginald, who passed away in 1962. The union produced two children — Janica and Raymond.

In honour of her 100th birthday Lyn received a card from The Queen.

According to her relatives, Sylvia was an excellent dressmaker and owner of grocery stores in Mandeville and Kingston before moving to New York.

After living overseas for 30 years, Lyn returned to Jamaica to take care of her mother who died shortly after celebrating her 104th birthday.

Now living in St Andrew, Lyn spends her days doing what she loves, which includes taking care of her pets.

“I have a lot of animals. I have birds, fish, cat, dogs and so they keep me occupied and I just do my housework and so forth. Sometimes I rest up a little. I get up in the mornings and, after I do the little check with the animals, I go back and take a little five (sleep), but I just keep active all the time,” Lyn explained.

Another cousin, Beverly Chin, described Lyn as a beautiful person who is gentle, sweet-natured and young at heart.

“I am just in awe of her memory, and whenever I visit her I leave inspired by her because she is just very composed and calm and she is courageous in everything. She is a very happy person. I think her secret to longevity is enjoying life,” said Chin.

Lyn’s friend and church brother, Errol Gregory, said he always looks forward to calling her every Sunday morning.

“I like her kindness. We became such close friends that I call her if she’s up. The other thing I remember fondly is that my glasses are always dirty, and at some time in the church service she’s going to let me take them off and clean them and when she’s finished, I can see as far as Montego Bay,” shared Gregory.

For 96-year-old Constance Milwood, Lyn is more than a friend.

“She is not a friend, she is my sister. We share everything together. I’ve known her from in the 70s. We are one,” said Milwood who is Lyn’s neighbour.