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Lucille Mills may be six decades older than her nurse, but the two share at least one trait in common.

Mills, who lives at Sacred Heart Care Center, celebrated her 100th birthday on Wednesday while her nurse Ashley Kimeun was celebrating her 40th birthday.

“We were so surprised when we realized we had the same birthday. We decided we needed to celebrate and she told me she didn’t care what she did as long as it was fun,” said Kimeun, who lives in Rochester and has commuted to work at Sacred Heart Care Center for two years.

Mills has spent most of her 10 centuries in Austin and she still has a great sense of humor. She joked that she is actually the one who takes care of Kimeun and she also laughed while saying that she belongs on the front page of the newspaper now that she’s made it to 100.

Laughter has helped Mills through life, along with her love of music, her Catholic faith, and her scheduled walks.

“I don’t have any bad thoughts. My thoughts are all good,” Mills said. “I’m alway good to people and I talk, talk, talk and I walk, walk, walk. I think that’s the best thing for anyone to do. I used to walk from Pacelli to the east side so many times. My dad never had a car and we walked all over the place.”

Mills graduated from Pacelli High School over 80 years ago and she also worked on the line at Hormel’s. She said she worked hard and made good pay, while also earning profit sharing checks.

“I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember all of it,” Mills said.

Kimeun said that Mills is always playing games, having fun and being active.

“I think that it’s a privilege to be able to take care of the older generation,” Kimeun said. “Lucille is very positive and I’ve never seen her in a bad mood.”

Mills, who had one son, was the youngest child in her family and she joked that she was spoiled.

Mills was raised in the Catholic Church and it’s one of the things she likes most about living in Austin.

“I was Catholic and we had a beautiful church. We used to go to mass a lot,” Mills said. “I said once that I’m so glad I was born Catholic and I meant it. You’ve got so much to look forward to when you’re a good Christian. You never know what’s going to happen, and everything’s kind of a surprise.”

Mills couldn’t pick out a favorite birthday over the years, but she knows what her favorite things are. She loves upbeat music that she can sing and dance to and she loves food, including the cake that she was able to enjoy on her birthday celebration.

“Who would’ve ever thought that I would get this. You never know,” Mills said. “You only get to turn 100 once.”