America’s oldest person, Elizabeth Francis, marked her 115th birthday last week with a simple but powerful piece of advice for a long, happy life: “Speak your mind and don’t hold your tongue.”
Having witnessed events from World War I to the Titanic sinking, the Houston resident celebrated her milestone with two slices of vanilla cake, according to the Washington Post.
“We all know that we have to punch that [final] ticket someday, so we’re amazed and grateful that she’s still here,” Francis’s 69-year-old granddaughter, Ethel Harrison, told the paper. “She’s surprised us all.”
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Born in Louisiana in 1909, Francis, now 115, has lived through momentous historical events, including the Great Depression and the first transatlantic flight. A single mother who ran a coffee shop in Houston, Francis has seen 20 presidents from William Howard Taft to Joe Biden.
She now resides with her 95-year-old daughter, who is wheeled into her bedroom each morning to watch classic sitcoms.
“They enjoy sitting next to each other to laugh and watch old episodes of ‘Good Times’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ on television,” Harrison said.
“They also love watching ‘The Price is Right.’ They both feel lucky and blessed to be together so late in life.”
In February, Francis was recognized as the oldest person in the U.S. after Edie Ceccarelli, the previous record holder, passed away shortly after her 116th birthday.
In April, Francis received a plaque from LongeviQuest, an organization that tracks the world’s oldest individuals, officially acknowledging her as the country’s oldest person.
“I asked her the other night how she feels about turning 115 and she smiled and said, ‘I just thank the good Lord that I’m here,’” Harrison told the Washington Post.
“She says she has nothing to complain about, and the rest of our family feels the same way.”
Harrison expressed hope that Francis would reach 117 years old, matching the age of the current world’s oldest living person, Maria Branyas of Spain.
“Every year that I have to order another birthday cake for my grandmother is an occasion worth celebrating to know she’s still with us,” she said.
According to LongeviQuest, Francis is the fourth-oldest person in the world.
