SUNSET, La. (KLFY) – There are people who touch your heart in ways unimaginable. Ada Barry, 95 of Sunset knows that to be all too true. She reads a poem from her daughter:

  … unconditional, patient and kind. So, know that you are in my heart and I will love you until the end of time.

Willie and Ada Barry adopted two beautiful girls. “The first one we adopted when she was just nine months old. The other one, they’re nine years between the two, she was just a little tot,” Ada Barry explained. Today, Barry’s two babies have children of their own. “They each had three children. So, I have six grandchildren and I have one great grand baby,” Barry said.

Ada says because of the people around her she is who she is today. They’re also her secret to longevity. “First my faith and my family and my friends. I have all of that to be thankful for.”

Ada was raised in Lafayette with two sisters and ten brothers.  “With only one bathroom. We almost had to draw numbers,” Barry joked. With 13 children in the house, her mother had all hands on deck. “There were no dishwashers, because she had all the dishwashers she needed right there in the house.”

Ada says all her brothers served in the service, except one who at a young age was ill and passed away. “They’re all in different parts of the service. My husband was also in the service. He was with the Merchant Marines,” she stated.

25 years ago, Ada co-founded the Sunset Garden Club. The club hosts the city’s yearly ‘Herb Festival’. “We’re all interested in making the community better and doing for it,” Ada noted.

Ada’s future plans include staying fit.  She works out at least twice a week. “I just love it. Some days you just don’t feel like getting up. If you don’t use it, you’re going to lose it,” Ada explained. In fact, her instructor gave her some encouragement that kind of lets her know she’s on the right track.

“Before me she said the oldest one was 87; and here I am I think I’m 95,” she laughs.