Daughter gives her 100-year-old mother the high school graduation she never had

One thing's for sure: you're never too old to learn.

Massachusetts woman Clare Picciuto turned 100 Friday, and she received an early birthday present Wednesday that was well worth the wait: the high school graduation she never had.

Clare's daughter, Deborah Picciuto told ABC News that over 80 years ago the Great Depression got in the way of her mother starting high school. Instead of pursuing her education, Clare was asked by her parents to leave school and start working. 

"Her brothers were allowed to continue with their education, and she always bemoaned the fact that she wasn't able to," Deborah told the station. 

Deborah explained that although her mother had to postpone her formal education, "she never lost her love of learning" and would read dictionaries and encyclopedias for pleasure.

Now, after years of watching her daughter and grandchildren advance in school, Clare finally got the chance to achieve her dream of graduating high school.

"She's been to so many graduations — my high school, college and grad school ones — and a bunch more for all of my daughters', but she's never had her own," Deborah told ABC News. "So I wanted to give her that."

On Wednesday, Clare was under the impression that she was going to the Edith A. O’Leary Senior Center in North Reading, Massachusetts for an ordinary day of playing bingo. Little did she know, the superintendent of North Reading Public Schools was waiting to present her with her green and gold graduation cap and gown, along with a tassel and an honorary high school diploma.

"She is a dynamite — a healthy woman with a great personality."
Superintendent Jon Bernard told Clare that while she had not technically attended high school, he felt her life experiences had earned her the honor.

In fact, Clare is so beloved and admired by those who know her, that her town has declared Aug. 19 — her birthday — as "Clare Picciuto Day."

"She is our oldest resident, oldest volunteer and let me tell you, she has still very much got it," Mary Prenney, director of elder affairs for the city said.

"She is a dynamite — a healthy woman with a great personality."

Prenney also shared a touching story with ABC about when Clare's driver dropped her back home after the graduation. After he congratulated her on her diploma, she told him she'd been waiting 100 years for it. When the van driver told her she had technically only been waiting 85 years, Clare jokingly said, "Oh, well, I wasn't ever good at math."