Contrary to the customs of the time, Assunta Mereu married at the age of 31. She said "I do" at the altar to Enrico Pisano, from Ilbono, where she had lived for half a century. Yesterday, Grandma Assunta turned 100, and she retains vivid memories of the day she swore eternal love to her husband—July 12, 1956.

She is currently the only living woman from Arzana registered with the centenarians' club. She is accompanied by Filippo Stochino, who turned 100 on June 18th and has lived in Liguria for a long time. Widowed since 2012, she had five children, four of whom are living, and today enjoys the love of five grandchildren. Throughout her life, she alternated between caring for her home and family and working in the fields. A woman of faith, she is devoted to the Madonna.

Secrets to reaching one hundred? None. But one art could make the difference, according to the woman: "Use a hoe." This is the advice she gave to a doctor during a checkup in the emergency room who was asking her how to reach one hundred years of life.

On her birthday, she was visited by the mayors of Arzana and Ilbono, Angelo Stochino and Giampietro Murru, the president of the Pro Loco, Raffaele Sestu, and the new parish priest, Don Luca Fadda.

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