Meet Marie Rosa | Canada's oldest living person

There's a quiet acceptance at this retirement home that those who move in here might not end up staying very long.

She's my little lady.

Marie Rosa knows that better than anyone.That's why the woman who believes every moment matters has mustered all her energy to take part in the celebration of a lifetime.

So good to meet you.

You're 71, your mom is 110.Do you realize how special this is?

Oh, I do, because I have so many friends who we've gone through the passings of all their parents.

Marie was born on September 17, 1915, during the First World War, serving as a seamstress and forewoman during the Second World War.She's tough.Oh, very tough.She lived through the Great Depression, which taught her a valuable lesson.

Not wasting a thing, like you scrape the butter off the paper, you know, you don't just unwrap it and throw it away.

What kept her going over the years was the freedom she got from hitting the road.

We would drop my dad off at work at the post office.He was an inside worker.And then we'd take the car for the day and visit an aunt or a sister or something.You enjoyed driving when you could, right?Yeah?Car driving.

Yeah, driving, yes.Yes, car driving, yes.

Fashion, another source of joy.She wouldn't buy many clothes.That's right.So much she bought.Yeah, yeah.Yeah, she loved to dress up.

Yeah, you look so beautiful, Ma.

Wanting to look great hasn't changed over time, which brings us back to the party, the celebration to honour her as Canada's oldest living person.A moment even marked by the passing of a crown created by the family of the man who last carried that title.Bert Sisler died in April.His son says his father shared Marie's commitment to making things count.

They're the ones that straightened nails and used them again.You didn't waste anything.

When someone you love has lived this long, watching them slowly slip away is harder.

I'm losing her, you know, a bit, a bit, a bit at a time.And that hurts.

Have you told her everything you want to say?

I think so.I think I have done that.

She's nodding her head.

Yeah.

Yeah.Yeah.But even as the body weakens, the power of how they've changed lives gets stronger.

Being able to learn and just understand the value of family and love and cherish that, I think, is incredible.

values that now bind four generations.

She always tells people if she's talking that day that you've got to love everybody.The kind of love that will clearly endure.Right, you love everybody and they love you, yes?

Omar Sechdin, SCTV News, Toronto.