Dr. Pepper the doctor of choice for 104-year-old woman
FORT WORTH, Texas -- A Texas woman is celebrating her 104th year of life.
"Well at 103 I didn't think I'd make it, but I'm still perking along," Elizabeth Sullivan told CBS Dallas station KTVT-TV.
Sullivan said she doesn't need the advice of real doctors, so she keeps another doctor close by.
"People try to give me coffee for breakfast," she said. "Well, I'd rather have a Dr. Pepper."
Sullivan fell in love with the soft drink's trademark "23 flavors" when she was in her 60s.
"I started drinking them about 40 years ago - three a day," she said. "Every doctor that sees me says it'll kill you, but they die, and I don't, so there must be a mistake somewhere."
For her birthday Thursday she got a very big surprise: A beautiful cake shaped like - what else - a Dr. Pepper.
She got a few bottles of her favorite beverage too.
Commenting on her special day, she said, "When you live to be 104 and still can talk to nice people, you deserve some Dr. Pepper, but I never expected this."
She even got a gift basket straight from the CEO of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Larry Young.
Sullivan is well-known in the Fort Worth community. She taught math at Paschal High School for 15 years and tutored football players for free. On her birthday, she was thinking more about what and who she's thankful for.
"I'm feeling good," she said. "I'm glad I'm still here, and I'm glad I'm not in a rest home, glad I can read books and watch TV and have people come by to say hello."
She was asked if she has a secret for living past 100. She said she really doesn't, other than, "you just keep living."