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Florida woman, 105, recalls life of dance, drink and song

Helen Granier of Palm Harbor, Florida, has enjoyed good times during her 105 years.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — A 105-year-old Florida woman said she has no secret to longevity.

"I never expected to live this long," Helen Granier of Palm Harbor told WTSP. "No one in my family ever did. I don't know (what the secret is)!"

Granier celebrated her birthday Friday at Coral Oaks Independent Living Facility, where she has lived the past nine years.

She reminisced about her life and how she went against the grain in her younger days.

“I used to drink beer and I smoked and everything,” Granier told WTSP. “I stayed out late, you know, dancing, and then I would go to work."

She loved to dance, but her husband prevented her from going to Las Vegas to test her luck.

“(My husband) wouldn't take me to Vegas, because he knew I liked to gamble. Oh, I loved to play the slot machines,” Grainer told WTSP. “So I went to Las Vegas after he passed."

Some memories are clear, as if they happened yesterday, Granier said. She was only 5 when World War I ended, but she said she remembered it. She does not recall getting her driver’s license.

“I don't even remember when I started to drive!" she laughed.