Westmoreland, New Hampshire - May 19, 2009
"Let me root for the home team, if they don't win it's a shame, it one, two, three, four... and the old ball game," Mary Josephine Ray sang.
She's not bashful about mixing up a few words to a classic hit. After all why should she be? She's 114 year old. On Sunday the Red Sox fan celebrated her birthday with friends and family.
Mary Ray was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada. One of her birthday presents was a congratulatory letter from Queen Elizabeth. Ray is believed to be the third oldest person in the world.
"All I can say is she really got some good genes," her son Donald Ray, 84, said. "She has to have some good genes. Where she got them I don't know."
At this point in her long life, Mary Ray is hard of hearing and needs questions read to her. However, what she lacks in verbal communication she makes up with a good old-fashioned game of catch. And family members say she is still the same person they have known forever.
"She has always been happy," said Kathy Ray, her granddaughter. "Every time we visit her in the later years, even before she came to the nursing home, she's always telling jokes."
On this day, no jokes were told. Instead, some spontaneous songs were sung.
"There's no use explaining, the one remaining is somebody I adore... I'm looking over a four-leafed clover that I overlooked before," Mary Ray sang.
There's no overlooking you Mary Ray. Happy Birthday!
Adam Sullivan - WCAX News
