khou.com
SAN ANTONIO -- Marie Whitlock is no stranger to a birthday crown.
"That was her 100th birthday right there," her nurse Stella Ruiz said as she pointed to a tapestry of pictures of Whitlock wearing her crown.
Whitlock passed 100 and kept cruising to 102 years young, a milestone she reached Sunday. She has a daughter who lives in Florida and a son who lives in Weatherford, Texas, and she has been married twice.
She spends her time with her nurse of 12 years, Stella Ruiz. Ruiz said the two used to go shopping when Whitlock was more mobile and that Whitlock loves fast food, a surprising fact considering her age.
"She loved to go to McDonald's, Wendy's, HEB and Walmart," Ruiz said.
Whitlock grew up on a farm in Texas after her birth in 1912 and spent time in Corpus Christi and Pleasanton.
Ruiz described Whitlock as a happy woman with a sense of humor and spunk. One story in particular Ruiz remembered was when Whitlock said she encountered a snake.
"She was doing her canning and went out to her shed, I believe, " Ruiz said. "She saw a snake and got a shotgun and shot the snake but broke all her little jars; she made a mess!"
Ruiz also recalls Whitlock's southern cooking, how Whitlock loved to read the newspaper and enjoyed making clothes.
"She used to tell me she would sew for her daughter the prom dresses and stuff," Ruiz said.
Whitlock's days are a bit quieter at the Sterling House in Medical Center with a special feline friend Ruiz brought into her life.
Ruiz started working for Whitlock around three cats ago. After Whitlock's first cat died, Ruiz promised to find her a new one, a promise Whitlock made sure Ruiz followed through on.
"I thought she forgot then about a week later she said 'Didn't you tell me, didn't you say you were going to get me a cat?," Ruiz said.
Since, Ruiz has gotten Whitlock not one, but two cats.
Ruiz says the two have become friends as Whitlock continues to outlive her family, her cats and her friends while wearing her birthday crown
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