It's a birthday celebration that grandmother Louise Bonito and her family will never forget: When she took a breath to blow out the candles on her cake, Bonito's dentures came out instead.
"They said, 'Mom, make sure you blow hard.' OK, so of course I went to blow, and my teeth came out," said the 102-year-old North Haven resident.
Video footage from the celebration shows Bonito laughing at her lost teeth. She took it in stride, and said she didn't feel like putting the glue on her dentures that day.
"I didn't get mad at all. I said, 'We're all celebrating,' to myself, 'We're all celebrating. Let's have a good time.' So I joined them, and I was laughing and laughing. They couldn't get over it," said Bonito.
What she can't get over, Bonito said, is that her granddaughter's video has become an Internet sensation and made its way around the globe.
"My youngest son called me this morning, 'Ma, now you're famous in Italy.' In Italy! Well, I'm glad I'm bringing some joy to the world," she said.
Bonito said friends she hasn't heard from in years have reached out to say hello.
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"At least it brought people to laugh. There's so much misery in this world, a little laughter will do them good," said Bonito.
She said that with five children, 12 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, she knows how blessed she is.
"I always used to say, there's a reason for me to be on this earth. At my age, 102, and thank God, I'm still able to do everything myself, and that's more of a blessing than anything else," said Bonito.
