‘She’s a survivor,’ Midlands woman celebrates 90th birthday

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Ms. Mattie Watts, a woman from Columbia is hitting a milestone birthday.

The mother of six children has spent her life raising them, and wearing her favorite color purple along the way. Her 90th birthday is Monday, but she got to celebrate early Saturday.

During the celebration she shared her secret on what has kept her going all of these years.

“Eat the right foods, and exercise, and take care of myself,” Watts said.

Mattie B, short for “Belle,” asked her children to throw her a birthday party when she reached her 90th birthday. A birthday her family says is a miracle.

“In her early life, she had breast cancer, and they said she wasn’t going to live longer than 30 days,” her son Jan Watts said.

A woman who has lived to see all of her children grow up, and now her 90th birthday, at a party surrounded by all of her favorite things.

“She’s a survivor and she has made it through.”

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department led a parade with neighbors, church members, and family members bringing gifts, singing, and honking horns for Ms. Watts.

One of her son’s Stanley Watts says he arranged the day for his mom, and that he’s been inspired by her since he was a young boy. He remembers how brave she was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was seven years old.

“She told God ‘don’t take me yet. Let my children be able to get on their own before you take me,” Watts said.

A birthday she says she got to celebrate trusting in the Lord with all of her children by her side.

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