IT was a day of excitement, tears and celebration as Graceland Nursing Home resident Suzete Rabello turned 100 years old surrounded by her friends and family.

Suzete, who is wheelchair-bound, was rolled into a room full of her family and friends, surrounded by decorations and a beautiful cake, and began tearing up and quietly sobbing as she did not expect the wonderful surprise.

“My mother is very caring. I am her only son, and I am so grateful for the love she has given me. Today was a very emotional day for us because she did not know what we had planned. She has lost so many people around her, and this is the best way that we could show her that she is loved. It’s not every day that you can celebrate your mother turning 100,” said Suzete’s 78-year-old son, Joao Rabello.

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With tears in his eyes on the special day, Joao told his mother’s life story as the centenarian is unable to speak any other language but her native language of Portuguese.

“My mother has seven sisters, and her father died very young, when she was seven years old, and she was sent to a convent to be educated. After school, she became a nurse and met my father, and they were married in 1943. I was born two years later. It was a very difficult delivery, and I was her first and last,” said Joao.

Joao says that when he was in university, my parents moved back to Portugal. “I could feel the distance so I decided to bring my mom and my dad over to South Africa when my mom was in her 60s. My father died 27 years ago, and since then, I have done everything I can to tend to my mother and make sure she is taken care of.”

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