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Virginia McLaurin, also known as “Grandma Virginia” or “D.C.’s favorite centenarian,” who gained notoriety when she met and danced with then President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, turned 110 this year.
The former first lady wished her a happy celebration on Instagram, re-sharing an image of their meeting in 2016.
“Still dancing at 110 years old—happy birthday, Virginia!” Mrs. Obama wrote.
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It was Black History Month in February 2016 where she first met the President and the First Lady, giving them both big hugs.
“I want to be like you when I grow up,” Mrs. Obama told her, to which McLaurin replied, “You can.”
The meeting between Virginia McLaurin and President Obama along with First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House nearly four years ago turned McLaurin into somewhat of an overnight celebrity. McLaurin, who lived in Washington since the 1930s, said her phone had been ringing off the hook since that meeting.
The video of her meeting The Obamas that went all around the world was watched by McLaurin days after the initial meeting. Watch her response in the video above.
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For McLaurin, who was born in South Carolina in 1909, the White House invitation was a long time in the making. It’s been more than a year since she started a White House petition asking to meet the president — and offering to come to his house to make it easier.
“I’ve come a long ways, a long ways,” McLaurin said in an interview outside her Washington home. “I just didn’t think I’d ever live to go this far in the world.”
“I don’t know,” McLaurin said. “I could just die happy.”
To really give you perspective on how historic this moment for McLaurin is, here's five incredible moments in history that she has lived through:
1963 (54 years old)
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom known as the March on Washington was one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans.
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1968 (59 years old)
The 1968 Olympics Black Power salute was a political demonstration conducted by the African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City.
1993 (84 years old)
Toni Morrison becomes the first black American to win the Nobel prize for literature. Morrison is the only living...
... American Nobel laureate in literature.
2013 (104 years old)
Virginia McLaurin is honored by Washington DC mayor Muriel Gray for volunteering 40 hours a week with students who have severe mental and physical disabilities.
2015 (106 years old)
Serena Williams makes history by completing what's been named the ‘Serena Slam’ by holding all four majors at once. The American tennis star is the current champion of the US Open, Australian Open, French Open and now Wimbledon. This is the second time she has achieved such a feat – the first player to do so twice.
