‘So very blessed’: 104-year-old enjoys Mardi Gras parade

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE/Gray News) - Mary Muniz, 104, enjoyed another year in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

“It’s a wonderful time,” she said.

For decades, Muniz has joined loved ones to watch her daughter and grandson in the Iris and Tucks parades.

“So many of my friends are here, and I’m so excited to see them all,” Muniz said. “The crowds are enormous everywhere. It’s so good to see so many people out here.”

When you walk along the St. Charles Avenue route, you see dozens of matriarchs who had a long-standing tradition of enjoying Mardi Gras with generations of family, but you would be hard-pressed to find one who has seen as many parades as Muniz.

“I grew up only about 10 blocks away from here, so this was our area all the time,” she said.

Leighton Cheramie is one of the many family friends who has joined Muniz on the route for years and he says it is like being with royalty.

“All hail Queen Mary,” Cheramie said, as he knelt before Muniz on the neutral ground and kissed her hand.

“If I can look and act and think as sharp as she does at 104, I’m doing OK,” he said.

Cheramie said being with the ones you love is what Mardi Gras is all about.

“Look at it,” he said. “This is what gets us out here. It’s the family. It’s good, clean fun.”

Muniz said she plans to be back out on the route next year and passed along her secret for a long and wonderful life.

“I’m so very blessed. I pray a lot,” she said. “That helps. And I’m loved and I give love, and that’s so very important.”