“I feel like I’m about 75,” Angie Crognale said on her birthday, which could add to the numerical confusion. She turned 100 Saturday, though having been born on Feb. 29, 1920—a leap day—she’s had only 25 birthdays. Crognale has been in an assisted living home in New Jersey since 1994, ABC reports. She spends most of her time with two friends who grew up near her; the three didn’t meet until they moved in to the home. Crognale worked in the home’s convenience store until she was 99, and President George W. Bush once recognized her for the volunteer work. “She’s also a bingo fanatic,” the home’s activities director said, “and has helped call the game four nights a week for years.”
Crognale, whose birth certificate says she was born on Feb. 28, was raised in South Philadelphia and became a seamstress after her mother taught her to sew, per the Sun Papers. She worked seven days a week on military uniforms during World War II and returned in 1961 to help during the Vietnam War. She and her husband, George, were married for 43 years, until his death. Her advice for reaching 100: “Be nice to everybody. Live well. Stay nice and calm. Don’t let anything bother you. That’s it,” she said. “That is the story of my life.”
