10/14/2009
100 Years Young
by Dolores Fox Ciardelli
Dorothy Gray smiled at her fellow Diablo Lodge residents as the huge ice cream cake was wheeled into the spacious living room. Candles on top were in the shape of letters spelling out: "Happy 100th Birthday!"
"I'm glad to still be able to go around and do things," she said. "I love being with people."
She never misses a happy hour at the retirement home, employees said.
Dorothy was born in Oakland, California and she loved to hike in the area.
"I was very fond of going to the hills," she recalled.
She also enjoyed gardening.
"I was always very keen about plants," she remembered. "I loved roses and nice plants."
She doesn't know why she has lived to be 100.
"There's no secret," she said. "I can't understand it. I don't know why I'm here!"
But employees at Diablo Lodge think it might be her positive attitude.
"She's extremely gracious, and always happy," said Lynn Harrington, Director of Marketing.
"I always wanted to be happy and be in a good state of mind," Dorothy said. "I like doing everything they put me to!"
"She's very involved in my exercise classes," noted teacher Lois Ann Flood. "She takes all of them!"
Dorothy's actual birthday is October 14th, and her family also gave her a party over the weekend.
But last Friday, it was her fellow residents at Diablo Lodge who sang out, "Happy Birthday to you!"
