Turning 100 years old is a major milestone not too many people reach, and there’s even fewer who live several years beyond that.
But one Costa Mesa woman is celebrating her 106th birthday today.
When Sarah Sullivan is asked what her secret is to living a long life, her family says it's not that hard – she never drank, never smoked and lives a very healthy life.
When people ask what year Sullivan was born, they often don’t believe the answer they get. “She was born May 28, 1918,” Paula Huls, Sullivan’s daughter, said.
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To say that Sullivan has lived through a lot is an understatement.
“It was hard to believe she made it through the Spanish Flu and all the way through the last pandemic, and that just amazes me for all the things she’s seen,” Huls said.
The centenarian celebrated her 106th birthday at Pacifica Senior Living Center in Costa Mesa, her home the past five years.
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“We call her Mama Sarah, she’s kinda like a mom to everybody because of course she’s the oldest here,” Rose Nakadaira, the executive director of the senior living center, said.
Sullivan’s daughter, who shares the same birthday as her mom, shares why she’s celebrating her mother today. And it goes well beyond her age.
“She worked very hard. My father passed away when I was 15 and I remember she had three jobs and she had been to college twice already,” Huls said.
Sullivan’s two children say she developed dementia a few years ago, but aside from that she’s still in great health.
“Very health conscious, walked everywhere and we used to make fun of her when she went to the health food store and all this – she got the last laugh because she's in better health than both my sister and I,” David Sullivan said.
Their mother never indulged in sweets, but today she did.
Celebrating a big milestone, her family hopes there are many more to come. “I’m just thankful I’ve had her for that long,” her son said.
Sullivan was born the year world war one ended and she studied in college the comptometer, which was the first ever calculator.
