She was a teenager during World War I and her
life spans three centuries. On Monday, New
Yorker Susannah Mushatt Jones celebrated her
116th birthday as the world’s oldest living
person.
Guinness World Records announced the occasion
and released photographs of Jones, dressed
smartly in a white jacket, black dress and
matching hat, being presented with a framed
certificate.
The former live-in housekeeper, known as “T” to
her 100 nieces and nephews, was born on July 6,
1899. She became the record holder at the age of
115 years and 346 days as of June 17, Guinness
said.
She was to celebrate her birthday with two
parties — with family on Monday and a larger
gathering on Tuesday at her Brooklyn public
housing community with friends, neighbors and
officials.
Her life began in the final months of the 19th
century, took in the full sweep of the 20th and
has witnessed the start of the 21st century.
Jones, an African American, was born in Alabama
to a father who picked cotton to support his wife
and 10 children. She was accepted into college,
but her parents could not afford the tuition.
So in 1922 she left for New Jersey, and then
moved to New York a year later to work as a live-
in housekeeper and nanny.
“Sleep!” she told Guinness World Records when
asked for the secret of her longevity. She is blind
and hard of hearing, but is not bed-bound and
“only takes two medications a day,” the website
said.
In 2005, when she celebrated her 106th birthday,
she told New York’s housing authority: “I never
drink or smoke.”
“I surround myself with love and positive energy.
That’s the key to long life and happiness,” she
was quoted as saying.
The record for the oldest person to ever live is
held by Jeanne Calment of France, who died in
1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days. http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/worlds-oldest-person-celebrates-116th-birthday-in-ny/

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waoooo!