Grace Gustafson rang in her 106th year today. Leading up to her milestone birthday, Gustafson reflected on family, her life thus far, and happy memories of her family and friends. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH — Longtime Norwich resident and American Legion Auxiliary member Grace Gustafson is ringing in her 106th birthday today, September 7.

Born in 1915, Gustafson was raised on a dairy farm in South New Berlin with her seven siblings before moving to Norwich.

"My sister was the oldest, and then me, and then the two boys, and then the twins, and then Martha, that was the baby. So we had quite a family, but we all got along good," she said.

Showing her sense of humor, Gustafson reflected on some of her favorite memories on the farm, one of which was a game of hide and seek in the barn that went awry.

"We had a nice barn and it had all kinds of hay and everything in there, and we used to play hide and go seek," Gustafson explained. "All of a sudden I thought, boy that's a dark place, I bet they'll never find me. And I got over there and hid, and there was a hay chute, and down I went. And then, landed right in front of a cow. Scared the living soul out of me. And that poor cow, oh, I felt sorry for it."

Her siblings were also troublemakers at times, Gustafson said, explaining that two of them once scared their father with a snake.

"They were walking down the road and had a good sized pail. And they were walking, and my dad said, 'What are you guys doing in the road?' Well, they said, 'We've got a couple worms in there, Papa,'" said Gustafson. "And then when he got out there, they had a snake in the pail. And my dad almost had a heart failure. He never liked snakes."

At the age of 16, Gustafson made her way to Norwich to work for a prominent family. She cleaned, cared for their children, and served drinks at their parties.

"I did everything. I cooked. She entertained a lot, she loved cocktail parties, she loved entertaining. And then I cleaned, and I'd cook, I did everything," she explained.

Gustafson went on to marry her late husband, Frank Gustafson, who served in the U.S. Navy. They had three children together.

In addition to her large immediate family, Gustafson also has a sprawling extended family, including over a dozen nieces and nephews, as well as several grandchildren and great grandchildren. She said they recently had a family reunion.

"Oh, the reunion. Almost all of my nephews and nieces, all the family came," she said. "Oh, we had the best time and everybody was so friendly and nice. So we really had a wonderful time."

Gustafson's extended family even reaches as far as Sweden.

"I've been to Sweden three times. And my mother and sisters, oh, they've been six, seven times. Oh they loved it over there," Gustafson said.

She went on to explain that although she grew up in the United States, she was able to pick up Swedish from hearing family members, and can still speak Swedish today.

"We had the elderly man, we called him Grandpa, he was so good. And he talked Swedish all the time," she said. "He said, 'How in the world, Grace, did you learn Swedish?' I said, 'Grandpa, I guess. He talks Swedish all the time and we pick it up and can understand it, and never had no problems.'"

Gustafson said she doesn't have any big plans for her birthday, but her nieces, Linda and Sandra, hope to pay her a visit.

"I'm just lucky I've got Sandra and Linda. And Harley, Sandra's husband. He's such a good guy," said Gustafson. "I'm lucky I got all them. Yeah, that's wonderful."

"We all get along so good, we never had no trouble," she added, speaking to her relationship with her family. "Happy memories, that's right. They're all so wonderful."