People in Wellesley, a town in United States' Massachusetts, decided to organise a surprise birthday party for the oldest resident of the town. Herlda Senhouse, who turned 112 on Tuesday, received the surprise with family and friends in attendance, according to ABC-affiliate WCVB5. The youngest of nine siblings, Ms Senhouse grew up in Piedmont, West Virginia. Her parents died by the time she turned 6. In 1931, Ms Senhouse moved to Woburn to live with an aunt and became the first person in her family to graduate high school.
A video posted by the channel on its YouTube handle shows friends and family members of Ms Senhouse gathered around her at the senior living centre and singing "Happy Birthday to you".
The 112-year-old, meanwhile, acknowledges the wishes smiling.
According to 'The Bradford', Wellesley High School's student news publication, Ms Senhouse was one out of only two Black students in Woburn high School.
"It was different for us, because in those days, you couldn't afford college unless you had a rich family. It wasn't easy for us to go to college. And I wanted to be a nurse," she was quoted as saying by the student magazine.
However, things took a different turn in late 1920s and Ms Senhouse had to become a domestic worker. She worked as a cook, a cleaner and a caretaker for children.
In her life of over a century, Herlda Senhouse has travelled to Italy, Spain, Turkey, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados, Morocco, South Africa, Hawaii, Florida, Arizona, and even back to her home state of West Virginia.
WCVB said Ms Senhouse is the second-oldest person living in the state of Massachusetts.
