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Want to live to 106? Ask this Boston centenarian how she does it

BOSTON — A Dorchester family is singing for joy, ecstatic to celebrate the 106th birthday of their family matriarch, Domingas de Pina.

Domingas was born on March 8, 1914 in Cape Verde. She’s still able to get around.

She loves to go out when possible and she loves to cook.

“We are blessed to have mom with us,” said daughter Maria Lopes.

"She’s still cooking. She’s still cleaning," she said.

When asked why she’s lived such a long life, she says it’s eating fresh, natural food cooked everyday, according to her granddaughter, Stephanie.

“They come from a place where there is no processed food,” Stephanie Lopes said. “So everything is pure. It’s fresh.”

We asked her daughter what invention impressed her the most. The cook in her came through.

“Microwave,” Maria Lopes said.

She may love to cook, but what's most important is her family.

“She has 7 kids, she has 25 grandkids, 56 great-grandkids and 6 great-, great-grandkids,” said Stephanie Lopes.

And it’s that huge family that she says helps keep her going.

“But she kind of draws us all together. We get together with all of our family. We call her, we come see her and she loves seeing us together,” her granddaughter said.