108 year old’s advice to fellow citizens: Avoid self-abuse!

Annius Isidore Sonny, aka Tata, of Barre St. Joseph celebrated another birthday on September 3—his 108th. Last Saturday, the STAR caught up with him and some family members at the Marian Home in Castries. His four daughters, Mary, Henrietta, Augustina and Octavia, described their dad as a hardworking, loving man who did whatever it took to provide for them. Born in 1911, Sonny grew up with nine siblings, one of whom is also still living. He toiled the fields as a farmer and sugar-cane cutter, and worked as a pan boiler. Marie, his wife of 48 years, passed away in 1986. They had eleven children.

His daughters recalled their early years in Canaries. “We grew up poor but my dad always made sure that there was love in the home,” said Henrietta. “We didn’t have TV, we didn’t have a radio, but at night he used to gather all of us in our little living room and tell us stories.” Augustina chimed in: “I remember him cooking for us and sometimes, when we didn’t have enough fish or meat, he would grate a coconut and add the milk to the saltfish to make it expand.”  

Sonny’s daughters shared a special bond with their father. When he worked in Roseau, and sometimes missed the bus, he would walk back to their home in Canaries. “We would be sitting at the end of the road waiting for him, knowing he’d be bringing us treats: sugarcane, sugar lumps or sugarcane syrup,” said Henrietta. The women recalled their father was never overly strict and would rarely punish them when they stepped out of line. He hardly ever raised his voice. “Our mom was different,” Augustina clarified. “She was the one who disciplined us and made family decisions. He worked, brought the money to my mom, and she would spend it on clothes, pay the light bill and so on.”

Henrietta described her father as a kindhearted, hardworking man who loved his children. “Fool around with him,” she said, eyes awash, “but not with his daughters.” She recalled the time he physically disciplined her for skipping school. As she sat crying, her father joined her, also in tears. “He said to me, ‘I don’t like to do that but you were wrong. I told you to go to school. Something bad could’ve happened to you on the street and I wouldn’t know.’ That was the kind of father we had.”

Octavia revealed religion had always played a big part in the lives of the Sonny family. Before they went to bed each night, they would all say the rosary. They attended church every Sunday, and once a month for confessions. As for her father: “For his age he’s doing very well and is well taken care of. Right now he can’t see or walk but he looks like a 70-year-old. We grew up very poor but I give God thanks that we can pay the Marian Home to take care of him.”  

Speaking for a brief moment, the birthday boy offered some advice to fellow Saint Lucians. Leaning against the arms of his wheelchair, he said that although life had not been easy, he’d managed to survive, thanks, he believes, to staying away from dairy. He admitted to smoking cigarettes but only when he was still quite young. Always a staunch Catholic, Annius Sonny said he still prays night and day. “Don’t rough your life too much,” was his advice. “If I had roughed my life when I was young, I wouldn’t be alive today!”