OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY) — Lucy Mae Cantelli, 93, of Opelousas is a former educator who taught kindergarten in New Orleans for 23 years.

Cantelli and her husband had one child. They had a daughter. Lucy has two sisters. She says one of them, at 92, heads up a hospital.

“She has worked with every president; at least four presidents. They treat her like you wouldn’t believe,” said Cantelli.

Lucy Mae and one of her sisters rode out Hurricane Katrina at a hospital. She says her home got nine feet of water and looters stole what they could carry.

“They stole my silverware, they stole my jewelry and they stole everything that was in the house. There was nothing they could do about it. They got the police and they had the army,” Cantelli explained.

Recently, a birthday surprise brightened her smile.

“I felt like I was 12 years old,” said Cantelli. “I felt wonderful. People drove by, they blew their horns and I was talking to somebody who had passed but I didn’t know it. It was the school teachers.”

Lucy lives near a school and enjoys watching the children play. For her birthday, they too, gave her a birthday serenade.

“They sang happy birthday. The whole world could hear them and it was for me. I just felt like I was the most important person in the whole world and everybody loved and cared for me,” Cantelli added.

Also, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren called from Washington, D.C. and Hong Kong.

“They gave me all kinds of compliments — even sexy ones,” she laughed.

Cantelli has this advice for her fellow seniors.

“Many times I get up and want to do something and I can’t. Like the doctor told me, when you get up your body does what it wants to do at your age,” Cantelli smiled.