Just weeks shy of her 100th birthday, Betty White was so excited to reach triple figures.
"My 100th birthday... I cannot believe it is coming up," she tweeted, alongside a picture of the People magazine she was gracing the cover of.
Sadly she never got the celebration she planned as she passed away peacefully at home on New Year's Eve 2021.
But what was her secret to such a long and happy life? It's certainly not what we are often told by health professionals.
"I try to avoid anything green," she once joked of her unusual diet trick for longevity.
"I think it's working," she added.
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Gratitude and a positive attitude was something else Betty credited to her lengthy time on earth.
"I'm so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age," she told People. "It's amazing."
According to the Golden Girls star, being "born a cockeyed optimist" was the key to her upbeat nature.
"I got it from my mom, and that never changed," she said. "I always find the positive."
Betty's agent and friend Jeff Witjas made the announcement that the world had lost the veteran actress on the day she died.
Her official cause of death was listed as a cerebrovascular accident, which means a loss of blood flow to the brain.
The star had also suffered from a stroke six days before she passed.
She "died peacefully in her sleep at her home" that morning, Jeff said.
"Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever," he continued.
"I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don't think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden.
"She believed she would be with him again."
Betty and Allen were married from 1963 until his death from stomach cancer aged 63 in 1981 - and perhaps they have now been reunited as she called out for him during her final moments.
She never stopped loving Allen, and actress Vicki Lawrence, who previously worked with Betty, revealed Betty's assistant, who was with her as she passed, said "the very last word out of her mouth was 'Allen'."
"How sweet is that?" Vicki told Page Six.
"God, I hope that’s true. For all of us, I really hope it’s true, a lovely thought."
While Betty and Allen's love story endured, it wasn't quite a fairytale at the beginning.
He was her third husband - she was first married to US Army pilot Dick Barker in 1945 but they divorced within a year because he wanted a simple life on a chicken farm while she was chasing stardom.
After that, she married talent agent Lane Allen in 1947, but they split after two years because he wanted a family, while she wanted to focus on her career.
After two divorces, Betty was reluctant to tie the knot again, so it took a lot of persuading from Allen.
A whole year, in fact, including two official proposals.
"I spent a whole year, wasted a whole year that Allen and I could have had together, saying, 'No, I wouldn't marry him. No, I won't," she told Oprah Winfrey back in 2015.
"No, I won't leave California. No, I won't move to New York. I wasted a whole year we could have had together."
The bid for Betty's hand in marriage which finally clinched it involved a stuffed rabbit - a smart move, given the animal-loving actress worked with many wildlife charities and zoos over the decades.
He sent a fluffy white bunny with gold leaves in its ears and ruby, diamond and sapphire earrings, she explained.
Next to it was a note saying "please say yes" - and she did.
It was third time lucky for Betty, who told Piers Morgan in 2012: "I had 18 wonderful years with Allen Ludden.
"The first two were... rehearsals."
She also revealed the secret to their happy union was "enthusiasm", as she would always freshen up her make up and put on a new blouse when she knew he was about to arrive home.
Betty's heart remained with Allen for the 40 years they were apart, and she vowed never to love someone else.
She told Anderson Cooper in 2011: "If you've had the best, who needs the rest?"
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