RIVERDALE, Ga. – It’s a day most people rarely get to celebrate. But not Maggie Katie Brown Kidd. She’s not only celebrating, she’s commemorating the day with an all-out party—and she’s breaking some records along the way.
Kidd is not a kid anymore. She turned 112 years old on Dec. 8, and she’s going all out Friday with another party at the Frank Bailey Senior Center in Riverdale, Ga. She celebrated in November with her family.
Born on a farm in Stephens, Ga., her official date of birth, sanctioned by the Social Security, is Dec. 8, 1904. That makes her the oldest living person in Georgia, as well as the oldest African American living in the United States.
The supercentenarian’s history-making titles were documented by Dr. Robert Rouse, associate professor of geriatrics at the Geriatrics Education Center on Aging at Baylor College of Aging in Texas, and by author Doris Wilson and photographer Peter Cole, who are currently collaborating on a book about African American Centenarians—featuring Kidd.
Along with local proclamations and celebrations, congratulations were also sent to Kidd from President Barack Obama and Rep. David Scott (D-GA).
So what’s Kidd’s secret to living a long, full, happy life?
God and unconditional love. In fact, she’s not opposed to dating, she said.
