Mable Manson Of Country Club Hills Prepares To Celebrate 105th Birthday

COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, Ill. (CBS) -- Here's some good news - a reason to smile today, or 105 reasons.

CBS 2's Tim McNicholas introduced us to Mable Manson of Country Club Hills, who has a big day coming up on Thursday.

Connie Jones keeps a book of birthday memories for her Aunt Mable. And Aunt Mable's 100th birthday is already one of the memories.

At one celebration, the mayor of Country Club Hills gave Manson a key to the city. Missing from this birthday book is last year's celebration, called off due to the pandemic.

"Last year, I just talked to her on the phone," Jones said. "It just hurts me not to be with her and hurts me not to see her."

But now, Ms. Manson is welcoming visitors from her close family once again. Her birthday is the third of March.

We captured video from a safe distance, and then joined Manson for a Zoom call from our news truck.

"I'm very excited," Manson said. "Very excited - every one of my birthdays."

But she's especially excited about this one...because for the first time in 2 years, she will finally celebrate with some of her family by her side at Elevate Care.

"We're going to celebrate here at the nursing home in the ice cream social room, with cake and balloons and everything," Jones said.

"It's a blessing to be 105," Mable added.