A 109-year-old woman surprised with a secret that became the key to a long life

A woman from Maryland, USA, who recently celebrated her 109th birthday, revealed to her friends the secret of her long life.

SSPDaily tells about it.

Jenny Libertini believes that she has reached such a venerable age due to loneliness.

"She was without a husband, she's been divorced for about 30 years, so no stress," said friend and fellow resident of the nursing home, Peggy Bocklage.

With no husband to annoy her, the longtime resident had nothing to worry about but playing a few games of bingo.

"When she was asked what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said she wanted to have a bingo party," Marcy Shea-Frank, the center's director of development, told People magazine.

Libertini was born to Sicilian immigrants in 1915 and had three siblings. She later married and became one of the first women to be hired by the Social Security Administration.

She also had a son named Michael, who was her guardian until his death at the age of 83. After that, she went to live with a friend, but eventually moved into a home at the age of 105.

According to Shi-Frank, since arriving at the home, Libertine, who no longer speaks, has taken it upon herself to make sure the other residents eat and even give them food from her plate.

Jenny recently had a bad fall that left her confined to a wheelchair. After the injury, she stopped talking, but that doesn't stop her from doing her favorite pastime - bingo.

"When it's bingo, she's here," said her friend Julie Snyder. "She's the queen of bingo."

Although Libertine can hardly hear the numbers being called, she has someone with her to help her play, Bocklage said: "She looks at the board, sees the numbers, and wins. She's very sweet."

Libertine is known as a "very caring" person, "extremely sweet" and "just happy."

"Even in the state she is in now, she just smiles and nods her head. I come every year because she inspires me," Snyder added.

As a reminder, the former holder of the title of "the oldest woman in the world" Emma Morano, who lived to be 117 years old, believed that the secret of her longevity was to avoid men and to follow a strict diet all her life. Emma Morano died in 2017.