The world’s oldest known person turns 115 on Sunday, April 20, 2008, and she lives right here in the U.S.A. Her name is Edna Parker, and she has been a widow since her husband died in 1938. That’s EIGHTY years of being a widow. She has also outlived her two sons.

My sister, Janice, sent an email to our family with an article about how older people are generally happier. As people get older they learn to take things in stride and to enjoy what they have. That seems to be the case for Edna Parker.

Here’s the story:

Indiana Woman, Oldest Known Person, Turns 115 on Sunday
Associated Press
SHELBYVILLE, Ind. Maybe it was a lifetime of chores on the family farm that accounts for Edna Parker’s long life. Or maybe just good genes explain why the world’s oldest known person will turn 115 on Sunday, defying staggering odds.

Scientists who study longevity hope Parker and others who live to 110 or beyond - they’re called supercentenarians - can help solve the mystery of extreme longevity.

“We don’t know why she’s lived so long,” said Don Parker, her 59-year-old grandson. “But she’s never been a worrier and she’s always been a thin person, so maybe that has something to do with it.”

On Friday, Edna Parker laughed and smiled as relatives and guests released 115 balloons into sunny skies outside her nursing home. Dressed in pearls, a blue and white polka dot dress and new white shoes, she clutched a red rose during the festivities.

Two years ago, researchers from the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University took a blood sample from Parker for the group’s DNA database of supercentenarians.

Her DNA is now preserved with samples of about 100 other people who made the 110-year milestone and whose genes are being analyzed, said Dr. Tom Perls, an aging specialist who directs the project.

“They’re really our best bet for finding the elusive Holy Grail of our field - which are these longevity-enabling genes,” he said.

Only 75 living people - 64 women and 11 men - are 110 or older, according to the Gerontology Research Group of Inglewood, Calif., which verifies reports of extreme ages.

Parker, who was born April 20, 1893, was recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest of that group last August after the death of a Japanese woman four months her senior.

A widow since her husband, Earl, died in 1938 of a heart attack, Parker lived alone in their farmhouse until age 100, when she moved into her son Clifford’s home. She cheated death a few months later.

One winter night, Clifford and his wife returned home from a high school basketball game to find her missing. Don, their son, says he discovered his grandmother in the snowy darkness near the farm’s apple orchard. He scooped up her rigid body and rushed back to the house.

“She was stiff as a 2-by-4. We really thought that was the end of her,” he said.

But Parker recovered fully, suffering only frostbitten fingertips.

Fifteen years later, her room at the Heritage House Convalescent Center in Shelbyville, Ind., about 25 miles southeast of Indianapolis, is adorned with teddy bears and photos of her five grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great grandchildren. She’s outlived her two sons, Clifford and Earl Jr.

During a visit this week, Parker was captivated by a new album of photos and documents from her life that Don’s wife, Charlene, had assembled.

“That’s the boys,” she said hoarsely, tapping a photo of her two late sons in their youth. “Clifford and Junior.”

Her two sisters also are deceased. Georgia lived to be 99, while her sister Opal was 88 when she died.

Parker’s long-lived sisters are typical of other centenarians, according to Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Institute for Aging Research in New York. Nearly all of them have a sister, mother or other relative who lived a long life, he said.

“Longevity is in the family history,” Barzilai said.

He and other scientists have found several genetic mutations in centenarians that may play a role in either slowing the aging process or boosting resistance to age-related diseases.

Perls said the secret to a long life is now believed to be a mix of genetics and environmental factors such as health habits. He said his research on about 1,500 centenarians hints at another factor that may protect people from illnesses such as heart attacks and stroke - they appear not to dwell on stressful events.

“They seem to manage their stress better than the rest of us,” he said.

Today is Sunshine’s 5th birthday.  RT and I went by their house early this morning to put balloons on the mailbox.  Sunshine was awake, and we ended up going in to watch her open several birthday cards and a couple of gifts, too.  She is absolutely ecstatic about her birthday.  It’s so cute.  Remember the days when birthdays were so wonderful? 

Happy Birthday, Sunshine!  You are the most precious thing in the world to me, and I love you more than words can express.

I come from a big family, and by the time I buy birthday cards for my husband, my children, their spouses, my grandchildren, my siblings, siblings-in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles - and then I add friends from the neighborhood, friends at church, coworkers at school, and other friends - it adds up to a lot of birthday cards over the course of a year.   I typically buy birthday cards at the grocery store or a department store as an “add-on” when I’m there shopping for other things.   After doing a little bit of math, I figured that at a minimum of $2.50 per card (and often at least a dollar more), that adds up to a conservative estimate of a couple hundred dollars a year just for birthday cards.  I knew there had to be a better way to purchase birthday cards without resorting to those cheap looking cards that come in boxes at the discount stores.

After surfing the internet, I found a source of personalized birthday cards online - Cards Direct.  Did you catch the “personalized” part of what I just wrote?  These aren’t your standard buy-at-the-grocery-store birthday cards.  These are personalized cards.   You can select the exterior design of the card (like my favorite one pictured above - and there are lots of exterior designs to choose from), and then you decide what is printed on the inside.  Cards are a wonderful and inexpensive way to let people know you care about then, and I’m glad I discovered a way to make the cards I send even more special.

Here are thirteen “C” words that describe me.

(1) Caring - I care very much for my family and friends.

(2) Courteous - almost always

(3) Cautious - sometimes too caution - but then other times, I’m

(4) Crazy (at times) - tend to be impulsive at times.  That can be good, and that can be bad.

(5) Cash=poor at times - it’s hard to stick to a budget sometimes

(6) Children’s books - love them - read them all the time (it’s part of my job - but I still love them)

(7) Carnival hostess - check back here next Wednesday morning for the Carnival of Education

(8) Cabbie - the nickname my mother gave me and that only very special people still call me

(9) Creative - sometimes 

(10) Competitive - I’m not obvious with this part of my personality, but I’m much more competitive than people think

(11) Crafty - I’m always anxious to try out new crafts ideas

(12) Contemplative - I think about things a lot - all aspects of things

(13) Cook - I like to try new recipes and prepare good meals for family and friends.  I love having company over for meals.

On December 31, 1974, RT and I were thrilled to become the parents of our precious Larisa, affectionately nicknamed Stinkeroo by her Grandshaw.  Before her birth, RT and I would listen to her heartbeat with a stethoscope.  1974 was before the days of periodic sonograms.  So we had no idea whether or not our baby would be a boy or a girl until after the birth.  We went into the labor room at the hospital knowing that we’d either walk out with a Paul or a Larisa - we didn’t know which.  Ever since I had seen the movie Dr. Zhivago, I knew that I wanted to name the daughter I hoped to have someday Larisa.  For awhile we toyed around with calling her by the nickname for Larisa - Lara - but then decided to stick with Larisa.  When she was born and we found out that our first child was a girl, we were so happy and we knew immediately her name.  The baby was our Larisa that we had been looking forward to for years.  She was basically bald for the first three years of her life, but as she grew, she also grew dark curly hair and beautiful brown eyes.  She was happy and energetic and a parent’s dream.  She thoroughly wrapped her dad and me around her little finger.

The above photo is one of my favorites.  It shows her enthusiastic and mischievous nature.  I’ve always loved her smile.

This picture is also a favorite.  It shows Larisa with her younger brother, Joey.  The pigtails were typical.  She was an athletic go-getter child - always interested in life, sports, being with friends, and she was/is a great sister to her brother.  They had their spats, but have always remained close to each other.

This is how she often slept as a baby - on her back with her arms flung out to her sides. As in everything, she put herself wholeheartedly into sleep, too.  She was confident and happy.

This is one of the photos from her wedding to Steve - along with their “baby” (at the time), Caesar.   Caesar passed on to doggie heaven quite a few years ago, and they now have two human babies - my wonderful grandgirls - pictured below. 

I first wrote about Stinkeroo’s birthday on December 31, 2005, and then on December 31, 2006, I wrote about her again.  I hope you have a wonderful birthday, my precious Larisa!

Joey is still my sweet baby boy, despite the fact that he’s now twenty-nine years old, he’s a successful business man, he’s been married for five years, and he no longer needs to be mothered.

I wrote about him last year in this post, and I wrote about him two years ago, too.  I won’t repeat all I’ve written before.  You can follow the links to read about my unique, loving and cherished son.

Happy birthday to my wonderful, compassionate, funny and good son.

My birthday was last Sunday - August 26th.  I was in a rotten mood on my birthday.  That afternoon I went to my school to do a little work, and I wrote a birthday post from my school computer.  However, since the post reflected my rotten mood, I deleted it.  So now I’m 58 years old.  I remember as a child thinking about the new century and the fact that in the year 2000 I would turn 51 years old.  It was such a distant and unimaginable age, that it seemed too much to even consider.  Then 2000 came, I turned 51, and then 2002, 2003 and so on.  And now I see the age of 60 closing in on me.

Time - and life - passes much too quickly.

For now, though - happy birthday to myself.  May my 59th year of life be a great one!

(P.S. And thanks to everyone who has left me birthday greetings in comments on other posts!)

It’s my baby brother’s birthday.  Here’s what I wrote last year about him, and here’s what my mother wrote about him this year.

David, I hope this is the beginning of the best year of your life so far!  Happy Birthday!

Today is Sweet Stuff’s sixth birthday!  My goodness, where has the time gone?  I remember so well the day she was born. Early this morning, RT and I tied balloons to her mailbox, along with a card for her to find when she woke up. Stinkeroo (her mommy) said that she was so excited. “Do you think they’re for me?” she asked. Then when she ran out to get them, she called out, “The card has my name on it!” This is the second year that we’ve tied balloons on the mailbox for each of the girl’s birthdays, and it looks like it’s a tradition we will continue. They both love it, and now it’s what they look for when they wake up on the morning of their birthday.

Yesterday, Sweet Stuff and her 4-year old sister, Sunshine, her mommy and daddy along with her Uncle Joey and Aunt Meleah came over to our house to celebrate her birthday and Easter.  It was such a nice day.  They also went to church with us yesterday morning.  Sunshine sat next to me and smiled at me a lot and held my hand and otherwise made me feel so lucky to be her Grandma Carol.

Here’s what I wrote about Sweet Stuff last year for her birthday.  She is a joy to me, and I love her more than I could ever express.

Happy Birthday, my precious, precious Sweet Stuff!

Today, March 22nd, is the birthday of my brother, Terry.  Here’s what I posted about Terry last year.

I can’t tease him too much about reaching the grand old age of 60 ’cause I’m only two years behind him.

I’m visiting my mother right now so I can be at Terry’s birthday party Thursday evening.  We’ll have a good time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERRY!