Posted on 05/24/2015 1:19:29 AM PDT by nickcarraway
"You are more likely to the win the lottery than to reach this age," Gerontology Research Group director Robert Young said.
Recently crowned as the oldest person in the world, Michigan resident Jeralean Talley turned 116 years old on Saturday.
Talley became the world's oldest person last month after the death of Gertrude Weaver, who was also 116. Weaver held the title for less than a week, as she died just five days after Japan's 117-year-old Misao Okawa.
Talley is one of three living members of the 19th century club, having been born on May 23, 1899 in Montrose, Ga. In 1935, she moved to Michigan, where she married her husband, Alfred, who died at the age of 95 in 1988.
Relatives say she remains in good health, active and mentally astute. Until just a few years ago, she continued to bowl -- a favorite pastime -- and even mow her own lawn.
Two birthdays ago, Talley received a personally-written letter from President Barack Obama, congratulating her for being a part of an "extraordinary generation." This year, she received yet another well wish from her presidential pen pal.
"The breadth of your experiences and depth of your wisdom reflect the long path our Nation has traveled since 1899," Obama wrote. "During this time, there have been setbacks and breakthroughs, false starts and improbable victories, and through it all our country's spirit has endured -- strengthened and enriched by each generation."
The world's oldest woman also received a token of appreciation from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services this week -- a check for $116.
Talley has never really offered a firm formula for living so long, saying simply, "It's all in the good Lord's hands. There's nothing I can do about it."
The Talleys had one child, 77-year-old Thelma Holloway, who now lives with her mother and cares for her. Jeralean also has three grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
Having lived in three different centuries, the supercentenarian has lived to see a lot. The first airplane was flown by the Wright Brothers when she was four. She was almost 13 when the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic. The automotive industry boomed when she was in her twenties. And television took off in her forties.
Talley has also witnessed all of the 20th century's most historic events, including six American wars. She was 15 when World War I began, 40 at the start of World War II, 51 for the Korean conflict, 56 for the Vietnam War, 91 for the Gulf War and 102 for the September 11, 2001, attacks that initiated the ongoing War on Terror.
"You're more likely to the win the lottery than to reach this age," said Robert D. Young, director of the Gerontology Research Group's Supercentenarian Research and Database Division, which tracks the world's foremost elders.
For a little more perspective, consider that William McKinley was in the White House the year Talley was born, which was also the birth year of actors Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney, gangster Al Capone, writer Ernest Hemingway, and filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock -- all of whom died decades ago.
USA Today reported in March that just five people born during the 1800s were still alive. Now there are only three: Talley, Georgia resident Susannah Mushatt Jones (born July 6, 1899), and Italian citizen Emma Morano-Martinuzzi (born Nov. 29, 1899).
Of the 47 supercentenarians alive today, according to the GRG, 45 are women. The oldest living male is 112-year-old Sakari Momoi, of Japan. The only other man on the list is 112-year-old Yasutaro Koide, also of Japan.
The oldest human being ever verified was French citizen Jeanne Calment, who lived 122 years and 164 days.
every day is a miracle
The one thing about living so long is that after, say, 70/75 you have no idea when the hammer is going to fall...and it could wham down at any second. Hopefully by 70 or so you are philosophical enough about things to just coast along and take it day by day.
I don't agree. Even at 70 and 80, you know day to day if you are healthy. You know whether you are overweight. You know if you have chronic disease. You know if your mind and body are right.
Yes, the hammer could fall at any moment - IF you are an overweight, bacon and sausage eating, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetic mess. That could happen if you are 40 or 50. It is about diet and lifestyle. You don't have to constantly worry about dropping dead if you live right.
I read an article about a British man who lived about as long as this. His taste buds had all worn off of his tongue so he couldn’t enjoy his food any more. He was in a nursing home, wasn’t very mobile and didn’t get out much. He may have been alive but it wasn’t much of a life.
I am sort of surprised Al Sharpton hasn’t made a case for reparations to be paid to her since she was born one generation away from slavery...
My Dad (94 at the time) had to have a powdered thickener mixed with his liquids during his last couple of months, due to recurring aspirational pneumonia.
Given his age-related dementia he was pretty much slurping liquid into his lungs, which was what finally got him.
Technically, anyone born in 1900 was born in the 19th Century. The First Century was from 1-100 AD, the Second Century from 101-200, ... 19th from 1801 to 1900, the 20th from 1901 to 2000, etc. Dionysius Exiguus (Little Dennis) used Roman numerals and had no way of expressing the year 0.
I just get this feeling if Jerelean was any color other than black Pres. Obola would have no care in the world about her.
Diet and lifestyle do help, but it is more about genetics than anything. My Great-Grandmother lived to 104 and loved eating a good ‘ole fashioned Southern Breakfast of sausage, eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy. OF course she was never overweight and was a beautiful woman in her prime. Her sister, who lived the same lifestyle, died at 102. Unfortunately, my grandma (her daughter) died at 92 - at the funeral many talked of how her heart problems cut her life short. :)
I know of 4 sisters who died at advanced ages: 104,106 108, and 110. good genes there.
Not to be racist... Who is the oldest white American? Every time they talk about the oldest...it is always blacks. Do we whites kill ourselves working to pay taxes for the Amish?
She looks great.
In sure he doesn’t care.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.