Today is yet another big one in the eventful life of Mrs. Writa Knights Johnson. She is now 105 years of age, still going strong, and fully enjoying the fuss being made over her having reached such a great milestone.She is a resident of Lefroy House Care Community in the Ireland Island sector of Sandys Parish, where the Community yesterday laid on a “warm-up celebration, a prelude to a more intimate one Mrs. Johnson's family are having for today (Saturday)”.The recreational therapist at Lefroy, Mrs Karen Fox-Simmons said “we put on our celebration because we consider Mrs Johnson to be dynamite, good spirited with a refreshing sense of humour. She's a lady of wisdom and knowledge which she's not hesitant about sharing.”One only has to pay her a compliment to see how quick-witted she is in returning compliments, added Mrs. Fox-Simmons.“For instance staff, might say: ‘Mrs Johnson, you look beautiful today.' Her response would be ‘have you looked in the mirror lately, because you are beautiful too'!”Over the years I have written many features on Mrs. Johnson, particularly the one from my Mid-Ocean News Notebook archives on the occasion of her 100th birthday. At that time I referred to her a “not just a survivor for heaving reached such a ripe old age of 100 years, but “a survivor extraordinary.” Following is the reason why:More than 80 years ago while on her honeymoon trip from New York to her native Bermuda Writa and her young American husband were dramatically rescued from the Furness liner Fort Victoria just before it sank on the high seas after having been rammed in a fog storm by another ship, The Algonquin.Those were the days before the invention of radar, GPS systems and other measures were put into place to cut down on such nautical disasters.During the early years of the 20th Century wealthy Americans who considered Bermuda their playground, went to great lengths to engage the services of bright young Bermudian, male and female because of their charm and industry, to work in their homes and enterprises. Writa became the envy of her peers, who considered her lucky when she took advantage of such an opportunity at age 16 to go to Newport, Rhode Island to be a mother's helper.In her early 20s, she met and married a Rhode Islander, Al Burton. Their intention was to spend Christmas in Bermuda in 1929, and to meet her family for the first time. They travelled to New York and set out aboard the Fort Victoria on December 19, burdened with their Yuletide goodies. It was the liner's last voyage before the holiday season, and it too was loaded with much anticipated cargo that ended up on the ocean's floor. Luckily all of the passengers escaped unhurt, with only the clothes they were wearing.The honeymooners were taken back to New York and returned to their homes in Rhode Island. It was a year or two before they eventually got to Bermuda as a couple, although Writa had visited before by herself. In fact Burton died in 1934 of a job related illness. In 1942 she married a New Yorker, Ervin Johnson. He was an avid golfer and a frequent visitor. They made New York their home base, and became leading figures in the affairs of the influential Bermuda Benevolent Association, Inc. That marriage lasted nearly 30 years before he passed away.Writa was born in Paget, near the Horizon Hotel, on February 12, 1906. She was the eldest of the ten children of Arthur and Bertha Knight. Eventually, the Knights family moved to a home he built in Somerset. Arthur lived to be 103 years old, was a pilot in the Dockyard; he was one of the founders of the Somerset Brigade Band, and its bandmaster for a few years.Mrs Johnson was undeterred by her harrowing experiences aboard the Fort Victoria. She became a world traveler, even organizing a ladies travel club.Twenty-five years ago she decided to escape the rat race of New York and its bitter winters and returned to the island to settle down. Being a very independent woman, friendly and frank, she lived alone in an apartment on Morgan's Road, Warwick. In her late 90s, yielded to the persuasions of her family and friends and became a resident at Lefroy House. There she's fully pampered by staff. They know how she loves to have breakfast in bed and to keep abreast of current events.Writa's only one surviving sibling is brother Harold Knight, who is 95. For many years Harold and his wife Amy owned and operated a motor lunch counter in Pembroke and Devonshire. When they retired they moved to Virginia where a daughter has a home and family. He was unable to return home for the celebrations.Deceased sisters were Gwendolyn, Gladys, Ismay, Audrey and Enid, and brothers Albert, Arnold and Harold.