The Jewish Eldercare Centre in Cote-des-Neiges had a very special birthday party Wednesday.
Every year the centre holds a special party for the resident centenarians, and this year there were a whopping 22 of them, up from 13 a year ago.
The special party drew some birthday greetings from some very special people, like Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Premier Jean Charest, Governor-General David Johnston and even Queen Elizabeth II.
The number of Canadians who are 100 or older has doubled in the last decade, and that trend was very evident today.
But after 107 birthdays, some of the normal birthday rituals have grown a bit tiresome for Lillian Kaufman.
"I never wish, I'm too old," Kaufman said. "I take it day by day, and I thank God for another day."
But for others, the novelty of a birthday party never gets old – even after a century of them.
"Everyone says I look great for the party!" said Gertrude Levine, 101. "I had my hair done today."
In all, the guests of honour totaled 2,241 years on earth, and all that wisdom still gets imparted to those who care for them at the centre.
"The amount of wisdom and the amount of life experience, they are all wonderful and they share it with our staff," said Jewish Eldercare Centre director Diana Schweitzer.
But the staff at the centre are not the only ones benefiting from all that life experience.
"I actually wrote an essay on her," Jessica Bloom said of her great grandmother, a holocaust survivor. "I wrote about her for woman of the year because she's so strong and she's so amazing to me."
