The world's oldest person celebrated her 115th birthday last Monday with music, cake and a letter of congratulation from US President Barack Obama.
Gertrude Baines, who became the planet's oldest living human in January following the death of Portuguese woman, Maria de Jesus, also 115, marked her birthday at Los Angeles Western Convalescent Hospital.
Baines — who attributes her long life to her religion and clean-living — attracted worldwide headlines last November when she became the oldest African-American to vote for Obama during the presidential election.
PHOTO: AP
She marked her latest milestone on Monday by declaring that she hopes to be around to vote for Obama again in 2012.
The low-key ceremony saw a group of friends sing Happy Birthday to Baines before the reading from the Guinness Book of World Records acknowledging her as the world’s oldest person.
“Her only complaint to me, well there are two complaints, number one, she doesn't like the bacon. It's not crisp enough,” her doctor, Charles Witt, told KCAL9 local television.
“And the other thing is she fusses about her ... arthritis of her knees.
She told me that she owes her longevity to the Lord, that she never did drink, she never did smoke and she never did fool around.”
Baines, who has outlived her entire family, was born in 1894 in Shellman, Georgia. Her father was the son of slaves, and her only daughter died of typhoid fever when she was a toddler.
Baines, who worked as a maid in University of Ohio dormitories until her retirement, has lived at the Convalescent Hospital for more than 10 years.(AFP)
世上最高齡人瑞上週一在音樂、蛋糕和美國總統巴拉克．歐巴馬的一封祝賀信中，歡慶了她一百一十五歲的生日。
葛楚．拜恩絲在洛杉磯的西方療養院中慶生。今年元月同是一百一十五歲的葡萄牙婦人瑪利亞．狄耶蘇斯過世後，她就成為全球現存最高齡的人瑞。
拜恩絲將長壽的秘訣歸功於信仰和簡單的生活，去年十一月她以全球最高齡的非裔美國人身份將總統大選一票投給歐巴馬時，吸引了全球媒體的關注。
上週一她慶祝人生中最新的里程碑時說，希望能活到二０一二年再投歐巴馬一票。
這場低調的生日會上先有一群朋友為拜恩絲唱生日快樂歌，接著由《金氏世界紀錄》宣佈確認她為世上最高齡的人瑞。
她的醫生查爾斯．維特向當地電視台KCAL9表示：「她只會跟我抱怨兩件事，第一，她不喜歡培根，因為不夠酥脆。」
「而她抱怨的另一件事是…她的膝蓋關節炎。」
她對我說她將她的長壽歸功於上帝，她從不喝酒、從不抽菸，也從不四處瞎混。
一八九四年生於喬治亞州薛爾曼的拜恩絲比她所有的家人都活得更久。她的父親是黑奴後裔，而她的獨生女還在蹣跚學步時就感染了傷寒症過世。
退休前一直擔任俄亥俄大學宿舍工友的拜恩絲，已在這間療養院住了十多年。
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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