ROCHESTER, N.Y. — We all love a good gift on our birthday. A recently minted centenarian from Rochester received something she never could have imagined, at the celebration of her life and service.

At Valley Manor senior living, music and anticipation awaited the guest of honor. Grace Moran was about to celebrate a big milestone. When she arrived, she was met with a salute that was more than fitting for a life well lived.  

“It’s just wonderful to come and acknowledge me in this way,” said an emotional Moran.

Grace was born in 1924. Her friends and family gathered Thursday to help her celebrate her 100th birthday.

“If it were a week or two ago I would have been running up and down the aisles,” said Moran, who entered the party in a wheelchair, but asked her sons to help her stand so she could salute two members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary who saluted Grace as she entered the party.

Hitting the century mark is worth celebrating.

“I’ve been fortunate,” she said. “I've been really fortunate.”

But it was Grace’s service that made this a double celebration. In 1944, Grace Moran enlisted in the U.S. Navy’s Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Services, or WAVES.

“My father was a hard sell,” Grace recalled. “He just didn't think women belonged in service. But he came around.”

The pharmacist mate 3rd class was deployed to the Camp Shoemaker hospital complex in California, where she cared for wounded sailors and marines.

“All I can say is that I'm very proud to have been able to do that,” she said.

Service, which, 80 years later, is now honored. The Military Women’s Memorial, based in Virginia, recognizes the stories of women, and service to their country. The group presented Grace with a proclamation recognizing her as a living legend.

If you’re fortunate enough to make it to 100, you’ve seen — and done — a lot.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had this much attention,” said the guest of honor.

Grace Moran has earned it.

“What more could anyone ask of life, than to have him this kind of recognition,” she said. “I just thank everyone so very much.”