Jerzu: Chicken, vegetables and cake, this is how grandma Maria celebrates 106 years

To those who wished her a happy 106th birthday, she responded almost incredulously at the milestone she had reached. Today, Maria Laconi celebrated her birthday at her home in Via Milano. Chicken and vegetables for lunch, and in the afternoon, she cut the cake with her children, Francesco (who joined from Germany, where he has lived for about fifty years), Mario and Susanna, her four grandchildren and the mayor, Carlo Lai.

A woman of deep religious faith, she is devoted to Saint Anthony of Padua and Padre Pio . Every day she recites prayers and enjoys walking in Sant'Antonio, an area so dear to the community that, in June, celebrates its patron saint there. Until she was 103, her health conditions allowed her to take long walks, now her habits have changed and she reaches Sant'Antonio by car with her children.

In the past, grandmother Maria divided her time between caring for her family and working in the fields of Quirra together with her husband Luigi Piroddi, a former miner and soldier, who passed away 35 years ago. Currently Jerzu has three centenarians (in six years the mayor Lai has celebrated nine) .