Virginia McLaurin is living the centenarian’s dream. Over the weekend, the 106-year-old, who was born a decade before the first anti-lynching bill was passed in America, met President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama and got on the good foot to celebrate. (If we live this long and can still move this fast, we hope we get to meet the President too.)

In 2014, according to CNN, McLaurin, who was born in 1909 in South Carolina and currently lives in Washington, D.C., began a viral campaign to meet the first black president, filming a video in which she said, “I didn’t think I’d ever live to see a colored president. I am so happy. I pray for you every day of my life.” For Black History Month, McLaurin got her wish.

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Ms. McLaurin danced, shook her cane, and showed off her new manicure while greeting the Obamas. “I thought I would never live to get in the White House,” she says, making any viewer immediately think about the century of halting but undeniable progress she’s lived through. She was so energetic that Mrs. Obama said “I wanna be like you when I grow up,” to which Ms. McLaurin replied, “You can.”

Do you have something in your eye? No? Just me? OK.


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