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There was much celebration in one household in Castleberry last weekend when Pauline Castillow reached the ripe old age of 100 years.  Although she turned 100, she sees it another way.

“I’m not old,” she said. “I have been around a long time, but I’m not old yet.”

Her family planned a big day for her in Castleberry with a lot of food that included lots of dressing.

“Everytime I asked her what it was that she wanted special for her birthday dinner, she told me she wanted dressing, so that is what she had,” said Betty Cooper, who is Mrs. Castillow’s daughter.

Castillow was born in Hacoda, Ala., which is in Geneva County. According to Cooper, the little community was not very big and Castillow agrees. She said that she lived in a house that set part way in Geneva County, and part of the way in Florida.

The family, were sharecroppers who moved around a lot, moving where they could grow their own vegetables, as well as a money crop.

“We didn’t buy anything in town but sugar, flour and coffee,” she said. “We worked all the time growing, not only our own food, but to sell, too.”

The family of four girls and two boys were responsible for helping to do the work around the farm and there were times when school had to put aside. This meant that Castillow only received a sixth grade education. The last school she attended was at Lyeffion where she graduated from the sixth grade.

She married her first husband, Leon Cooper, in 1942. She married again in 1956 to Riley Castillow. She had a total of four children, three girls and one boy. She has always had pretty good health and said she hasn’t seen a doctor in 31 years.

Castillow said she didn’t remember a lot about her life, but one thing that stands out in her mind is the fact that she gave her life to Christ in 1946 and has continued to depend on Him ever since.

“What ever God wants me to do, I will do,” she said. “He saved me in 1946 at a Freewill Baptist church and I have attended a Holiness church ever since. I haven’t missed many services in that time. The world has gotten in a big mess and people need to turn to God and worship Him.”