South Jersey woman turning 102 shares her secrets to life: laughing and dancing
VOORHEES, N.J. (CBS) -- One New Jersey woman is celebrating a milestone birthday. Ada Wallach is 102 years young, proving that age is just a number.
"I don't know how I've reached 102. I don't know how. It just came," Wallach said.
Wallach grew up in South Philadelphia. She graduated from Girls' High at 15 years old, and a year later, she met her late husband, Harry.
"When I was around 16, I met my husband and we were at a camp and everyone was smoking. I took a cigarette and he said to me, 'If your mouth ever tastes like tobacco I'll never kiss you.' That put me onto the prohibition of smoking, because I like to be kissed," Wallach said laughing.
The couple kissed and danced for more than 60 years.
When Harry returned from the war, they opened a bakery in West Philadelphia.
"We had this Jewish rye bread and the onion rolls and the Kaiser rolls, they were very crispy, " Wallach said.
Although she did not cook, she helped in the business. She eventually became a court reporter.
"I remember one time a man came in and he was very disgusted because they were postponing his case, he got so frustrated he shot and missed the judge. I remember running into the ladies' room and being really frightened," Wallach said.
Some would say Wallach had it all, an adoring husband with whom she ballroom danced and traveled the world.
But her proudest moments over the last 102 years come with a simpler title, Mom.
She loves her three daughters and they can't get enough of her.
"They'll never remember me for my cooking. I don't know how they all grew up so healthy," Wallach said.
