Life still fascinates Bluff nonagenarian
Charlotte Fuller's secret to a long and fulfilling life is to simply live each day like it is the last.
TO enjoy each day to its fullest. This is the golden advice of a very lively Charlotte Fuller, who celebrated her 90th birthday on Sunday, April 11.
The Bluff resident was born and bred in America, lived the life of a nomad for some years before taking up retirement in a beautiful ocean-view home on Marine Drive.
“I first came to South Africa on a visit in 1995. I loved it so much and came here to live in 1998. This is a beautiful country, I love it. I knew the social and historical background of South Africa and it was then where I thought to myself I’d like to live there someday. The motivation behind her big move was prompted by the vast research and knowledge she gained from being an activist and later the president of Nevadas Against Apartheid. “As a result, I was one of 60 activists invited to New York to meet with Nelson Mandela soon after his release from prison.”
Asked what motivated her interest in the country, she said, “I didn’t like what was happening in this country. One day I came across a notice in the newspaper about a group that was going to meet on the 4th of July which is Independence Day in America. I told myself that any group that is going to meet on such a festive day to discuss serious business, I want to be a part of. These people were doing something that needed to be done and that’s how I got involved. Some people think you’re crazy for wanting to do anything but I’ve always been on the side of the underdog. Even today, I am concerned about the things that are happening in this country and throughout the world. The Fees Must Fall movement, the unrest in Mozambique, the people and the Jews in Palestine – everything. I always want to know what’s going on,” said Charlotte who also possesses a strong interest in African and American history, culture, art and literature.
She has lived a colourful and eventful life and has had the honour of meeting amazing individuals and public figures. “My blessings began at birth, a 12lb (5.4kg) baby who got a lot of attention. Not knowing the admiration was due to the monstrous size, I have always felt special with high self-esteem. My parents provided for six children on a preacher’s salary. We had pigs and chickens in the backyard and a vegetable garden.”
After graduating from Detroit’s best rated high school, Cass Technical, she worked behind the ice-cream counter of Barthwell Drugstore, later taking up a post as a clerk at Herman Kiefer Hospital, and finally as a social worker for Wayne County.
“While I attended Wayne State University, got a degree in education and taught at an orthopaedic school for one year before moving to Ghana in 1961 with my attorney husband to escape the turmoil and civil unrest in the United States.”
Her most memorable experiences in Ghana include being at a reception hosted by president Kwame Nkrumah for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles as well as meeting Malcolm X who had been on an African tour to seek to support in the struggle of Afro-Americans for equality.
“In March 1963 in Washington, we marched around the US embassy in Ghana with Maya Angelou leading the singing. I was privileged to make a wreath representing the Afro-American community for the memorial service of Dr W.E.B Dubois. There were no florists. I now laugh at the experience of taking Mohammed Ali to a friend’s business to give it publicity and I ended up paying the unexpected bill for Ali’s Coca-Cola to avoid embarrassment.”
One of her lifetime highlights is successfully suing the Clark County Juvenile Court, where she worked as a probation officer in protective services after her supervisor refused to pay her for the work she would put in overtime.
“The past 22 years in South Africa have been the best ever. Everyday encounters with people of diverse cultures make life exciting. I’m never bored.”
Her past, present and future projects during her retirement in SA include The Lemon Tree – a learn to earn project for street children, Africans and Americans Connect Together – which offered scholarships for tertiary students, Everybody’s Birthday – parties for children in child care, being involved in Umhlathuzana Rotary Club and pre-school home teaching. Her secret to a long and fulfilling life is to simply live each day like it is the last.
“My mother always said to us, be good to yourself. I take that literally. I treat myself very well and I eat healthily. Standing here at 90, I get a lot of attention now as I did when I was born. I often joke and advise people that if they want to live to be 90, they ought to live to be 89 and then be very careful,” she laughed.
“Tomorrow is not promised, so if you’ve got something on your mind that you want to do, do it. Some people get accustomed to a place and they never leave. That’s not me. I will move in a minute if I like a place. I’ve been to 25 countries and lived in four of them. My country of choice is South Africa. I am African not because I was born in Africa, but because Africa was in me, these are words on a card given to me by Surah Abel in January 2000.”
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