Olivia Bodeker turned 100 years old on Aug. 22, but she has a better memory than most people half her age.

She vividly remembers scenes from her life, like getting up before the sun rose to enjoy the treat of riding in her grandfather's first car, winning a pony from a contest when she was 5, hiding under the bed when her uncle returned in his uniform from World War I, meeting the Pope, being in the second car to pass through the Bankhead tunnel, meeting President Teddy Roosevelt with a group of Cub Scouts and her reaction when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

She remembers all of those big moments in her life, but also many of the small, everyday moments with her husband and best friend Dan, son Dan Jr. and various precious children she cared for throughout the years.

Olivia's greatest pleasure in life has been her role as a wife and a mother.

“My advice about raising children is just to love them,” she says. “Love your children. And take them to church. See to it that the baby is trained in whatever religion you belong to. To be a good citizen you have to remember you are of God, and God comes first. With marriage, have a lot of forgiveness in your heart, because we all make mistakes. That's the most important thing to remember.”

She also finds great joy in the beauty of the Earth — flowers, trees, clouds — all of it.

“Life is a beautiful thing,” she says. “If life on Earth is this beautiful, what will heaven look like?”

Olivia says over the past 100 years, she's learned a lot of lessons that she willingly shares with younger people. She advises to those who want to live to 100: no drinking, smoking or bad words — clean living. Attitude is a big part of it, too, she says.

“You can make your life whatever you want it to be,” she says. “You can wake up in the morning and say, 'This is a happy day,' and it'll be a happy day. Or you can wake up and say, 'I'm going to be mad at everybody,' and it's going to be a bad day. So why not make it a good day, and be happy? Don't worry, and don't listen to gossip. Thank God every morning when you get up, and thank him when you go to bed. Whatever day you've had — good or bad — still thank him for it.”

Olivia has had plenty of circumstances in her life that would warrant a bad attitude — she lost her beloved husband in 1959 and her son in 1993, and she's outlived most of her friends — but she has remained thankful and optimistic.

“If the next 100 years would be as big of a blessing as this first 100, I'd be glad to go around again,” she says. “It has been a blessing. God is good.”

Aug. 23, the staff and other residents at the AHEPA 310-3 apartments in Fairhope, where Olivia has lived for 20 years, threw her a 100^th birthday celebration. Mayor Tim Kant attended and presented Olivia with a Key to the City.

“She is an awesome lady,” says Dea Minchew, the apartment manager. “She is still so independent for being 100. We truly love her here, and she has been the rock for a lot of our residents. Her spirt is always nice, and she's always interested in what's going on.”

Olivia says she knows she won't live forever, even though she is currently in wonderful health.

“You know what I think of death?” she asks. “It's the most beautiful thing that can happen to you, because you've already lived a good life, and that's the way it is. It's a beautiful thing. I'm not afraid of death. I've so enjoyed my life.”