A Fort Worth woman turned 104 this week , and she credits a very special doctor for her good health and longevity : Dr Pepper . Elizabeth Sullivan fell in love with the 23-flavored soft drink 40 years ago , when she was in her 60s . 'People try to give me coffee for breakfast . Well I 'd rather have a Dr Pepper , ' she said . ' I started drinking them about 40 years ago . Three a day . Every doctor that sees me says they 'll kill you , but they die and I do n't , so there must be a mistake somewhere . ' Scroll down for video . Elizabeth Sullivan turned 104 this week , and on Wednesday the CEO of Dr Pepper Snapple Group , Larry Young , surprised her with a very Dr Pepper-filled day . Sullivan has been drinking Dr Pepper for 40 years , since she was in her 60s . She drinks about three cans a day . Larry Young , the CEO of Dr Pepper Snapple Group , gave Sullivan a big surprise for her birthday on Wednesday : a cake designed to look like the carbonated drink 's can , a gift basket and plenty of bottles of the pop to drink , according to CBS Dallas Fort Worth . As she reveled in excitement from the day , Sullivan reflected on her age . 'Well at 103 I did n't think I 'd make it , but I 'm still perking along , ' she told CBS . 'When you live to be 104 and can still talk to nice people , you deserve some Dr Pepper , but I never expected this . ' The Dr Pepper Snapple company came to Sullivan 's house and surprised her with a Dr Pepper-can-shaped birthday cake that read 'Happy 104th Birthday Elizabeth ' Sullivan was also given a gift basket , which included a T-shirt , bottles of the carbonated soft drink and a myriad of other goodies . Sullivan taught math at Paschal High School in Fort Worth for 15 years , where she tutored football players for free . She said that the secret to living a long life - aside from Dr Pepper - is to 'just keep living ' . 'Man I 'm feeling good . I 'm glad I 'm still here . I 'm glad I 'm not in a rest home . Glad I can still read books and watch TV and have people come by and say hello , ' she said . Sullivan said she is thankful that she 's still active at her age and not in a care home . She said she likes that people can stop by her house just to say hello .
Elizabeth Sullivan fell in love with the soft drink when she was in her 60s . Doctors keep telling her to stop drinking the pop , but the Fort Worth , Texas , woman says 'they die and I do n't , so there must be a mistake somewhere ' CEO of Pepper Snapple GroupDr Pepper gifted Sullivan with a pop-can-shaped cake , a gift basket and bottles of Pepper Snapple Group .