ANAHEIM : 104 Birthdays Later and ‘Life Is the Same’

If vegetarians ever need a testimonial for what forsaking meat can do for you, they need look no further than Maria Guerra, who turned 104 Tuesday.

Although she needs a walker to get around and her hearing isn’t what it used to be, Guerra has never been seriously ill and remains a lively conversationalist. The only medicine she uses is “Dr. J.H. McLeans Volcanic Oil Liniment,” which she rubs on her joints daily.

“I eat the vegetables--no meat--and everything works fine,” Guerra said as she prepared for a birthday party in her honor at the Anaheim Meadows convalescent home, where she has lived for two years.

Molly Monteverde, Guerra’s niece, is amazed by her aunt’s vim and vigor. Every morning, Guerra holds the side of her dresser and does stretching and bending exercises.

“She’s alert, she knows what day it is, whose birthday it is, everything,” Monteverde said.

To put Guerra’s age in perspective, when she was born in 1889 the President was Benjamin Harrison. There were 42 states in the union and the last major battle between the U.S. cavalry and Native Americans was a year away. Anaheim was a town of 1,400 people surrounded by farms. The gasoline-powered automobile was invented that year.

Guerra, born in Mexico City, became a schoolteacher at 19. Her fondest memory of it is the fiestas she would organize.

“One year I was the queen and I got to wear a crown,” she said.

Guerra came to Los Angeles in 1923, where she met her husband, Enrique, who died in 1963. They had no children.

She gave up teaching when she came to the United States, but because of her background, she began a day-care center in her home, often charging only 25 cents or 50 cents a day. She still keeps in touch with many of the 50 children she cared for over the years, keeping photos of their weddings, graduations and other important events in an album.

“I remember all of my life,” she said. “I have had a lot of friends.”

When asked to look back at that life and analyze the changes in society she has seen, Guerra paused, but only for a moment.

“Life is the same,” she said. “All of the people are the same. It is the costumes that are different.”