WATCH — Veteran Nurse Celebrates 102nd Birthday with Bernice King: ‘A Living Example for Us’

A woman in Atlanta, Georgia, celebrated a milestone birthday on Friday, and a surprise guest made the party even more incredible.

The woman known to community members as Mama Bridges but whose real name is Clara Bridges turned 102 and made a special wish for the big day, WSB reported Sunday.

The celebration took place at the Peachtree Senior Tower where she has lived since the 1970s. When asked how she has lived such a long life, Bridges had a simple answer, according to a press release.

“I said, just a closer walk with God,” she stated.

The news release continued:

An Atlanta native who grew up in what is now known as the West End, she knew she wanted to be a nurse by the time she was 7. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School and completing nursing programs at Clark Collegeand Grady Hospital, she enlisted in the U.S. Army and served honorably at four military installations. After 33 years of service in nursing, Mama Bridges, as she is affectionately known, retired to the senior high-rise in 1976, becoming its first Black resident.

During her time as a nurse with Grady Hospital, Bridges briefly met a teenager whom the world now knows as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

For her birthday, one of her greatest wishes was to meet his daughter, Bernice King, who attended the party and gave her another surprise.

In a social media post on Friday, King said she was “excited to honor her request and sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her today.”

Eugene E. Jones Jr., President and CEO of Atlanta Housing, praised Bridges for her great example to the community.

“We are privileged and honored to still have her in our lives, and the love and compassion she shares is a living example for us all,” he said.