Virginia McLaurin, a proud Washington DC resident, was born in South Carolina in 1909 — the same year Theodore Roosevelt finished up his presidency, the United States military purchased its first airplane, and the Manhattan Bridge was opened.

Last week, she walked into the Oval Office in the White House as a jovial, ecstatic 106-year-old. The former seamstress and widow of 70 years met President Barack Obama and the First Lady.

Let’s just say she didn’t try and hide her overabundant enthusiasm. At all.

You gotta see this:


This from the Washington Post:

With the leader of the free world in one hand and Michelle Obama in the other, McLaurin danced with sheer and utter joy, shaking her hips like a 16-year-old and flashing a smile as bright as the camera flashes going off all around her.

“She’s 106?” the president asked incredulously.

“No, you are not,” scoffed the first lady, before adding: “I want to be like you when I grow up.”

The uplifting moment was also heavy with history, however. After her super-senior shuffle, McLaurin suddenly got serious.

“I thought I would never live to get in the White House,” said McLaurin, who was born in 1909 in South Carolina, worked as a seamstress for most of her life and has been a widow for more than 70 years.

But her amazement went beyond merely making it inside the hallowed building. She was particularly bowled over to be meeting America’s first African American president.

“I tell you, I am so happy,” she said, looking up at Obama before turning to the first lady. “A black president, yay, and his black wife.”

McLaurin was at 1600 Pennsylvania NW to celebrate Black History Month.

UPDATE: From a former First Lady …