comment: >
  
  Oh my god what happened??
context: For reference, this woman was:
  - 6 years old when World War One began
  - 21 years old when the stock market crashed
  - 32 years old when WW2 began in Europe and 35 when the US entered
  - 42 years old when the Korean War began
  - 59 years old during the Summer of Love
  - 61 years old when the first moon landing occurred
  - 67 years old when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese
  - 73 years old (by three days) when Reagan was elected president
  - 82 years old (by two days) when the Berlin Wall fell
  - 84 years old when the USSR ceased to exist
  - 93 years old on 9/11
  - 100 years old when Barack Obama was elected president  
  Needless to say, it's hard to even imagine the level of change she experienced over the course of her life. >
  
  Whoa. The 911 and USSR ones seem crazy to me. >
  
  Didn’t even mention 11ish 1919 when the USSR began, 5 years after WW1 started. So she out lasted it >
  
  The USSR only lasted 70ish years, so I imagine quite a lot of the people born in the years leading up to its formation outlived it. >
  
  Yeah my paternal great grandparents outlived it by nearly 20 years and were born a few years before it. >
  
  
  At her 110th birthday party in 2017, Bessie told us that the secret to a long life was hard work
  
  I'm gonna side with the centurians who claim it's whiskey and bacon every day >
  
  I’m beginning to think these folks have no fucking clue how they ended up living so long >
  
  Genetics, good health, and a shit ton of good luck (or bad depending on your perspective). >
  
  You're right and I really wonder if diet has anything to do with it. My MIL is 98 and has always eaten like a little kid ( mac and cheese, tea and toast, cookies and cakes , sips juice all day) never eats vegetables and grew up on all canned goods but she has absolutely no health problems. She can't figure out why she is alive either, besides the " shit ton of good luck". >
  
  Probably has some great quest she needs to complete before she's allowed to pass. >
  
  Dang, I am not financially preparing for  50 years of retirement. >
  
  I’m female and 69 years old.  I just realized I am in great health so I could have 30 more years! >
  
  Yea but will you 69 one last time before you turn 70? >
  
  It is a worthy goal. >
  
  Don't let your dreams be dreams >
  
  Now there's a new oldest person. I wonder how often this torch is passed. >
  
  I'm like 90% sure there are a couple people currently living that were already older.
  Edit: nevermind, overlooked the "in US" part >
  
  Bessie Hendricks, died 115, shot by the police in a daring day light bank hold up. >
  
  I was sure she'd go out trying to jump the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle. >
  
  That was her escape route alright. >
  
  All of these people who are “Oldest In The ____” keep dying. Definitely not a title one wants to have… >
  
  It’s almost as if there’s a correlation between age and chances of death. >
  
  That's why I've decided not to age. >
  
  Wild. She crashed her motorcycle doing a wheelie on the highway. >
  
  (former) oldest living squid >
  
  Tomorrow on my Facebook feed:
  "Let me guess, she got THE JAB, right?" >
  
  Your fault for opening facebook >
  
  Every time a verified oldest person passes away, hundreds come out of the woodwork with the most disheveled old man they can find with stories like "oh yeah my neighbor's grand uncle is definitely 150, they just didn't have papers back then". Looks like we made it to the thread before that!!
  It gets even more exciting when it's a world record holder because then every remote mountain in the world suddenly becomes ideal conditions to absolutely shatter longevity records for a few hours, along with the usual facebook-level wisdom about how the air from their neck of the woods has magical purity allowing this astounding record that the press doesn't want you to know about!
  Sorry, I got carried away with satire here, guess I'm passionate about that trope.
  RIP Bessie ❤ >
  
  And now begins the search for her successor. >
  
  There's already a running list of really old people. Edie Ceccarelli was born a couple of months after her and is now the oldest living person in the US. A couple months after her is Hazel Plummer. The oldest person in the world is in France, she'll turn 119 next month. >
  
  1907... she has seen some scheisse >
  
  Literally was too old for this shit. 
  Rest in power, Queen. >
  
  A true living fossil. What an incredible life. >
  
  Also the last person ever to be named Bessie. >
  
  Goodbye, Bessie Mae - Jimi Hendrix
  That's what comes to mind when I hear the name Bessie. >
  
  Amazing a person can live to 100 plus 15 years. >
  
  Imagine having some great great grandchild born when you're 97 and getting to see them graduate high school >
  
  I saw a great documentary a few years ago about people who lived past 100. It was great because not only was it the happy positive folks the media shows us, but some said they were “done” and pissed off they were still alive. 
  All of that “think positive to be healthy” is mostly BS and I get frustrated seeing it so seeing reality reflected made me happy. Americans hate to reference genetics because we need the illusion of control. It makes me angry but I try to control myself. >
  
  Genetics are important.
  But people should not adopt a passive, fatalistic, or nihilistic mindset when it comes to their health...and that is where Americans are trending, seems to me.  Bessie might not have had lived an especially healthy lifestyle.  That does not mean a healthy lifestyle does not increase the likelihood of a long, healthy life.
  I am not trying to live to 115 because I don't think I will have enough money or human capital to support that dream.  But I do want to be spry in my 70s and 80s, at least.  I do not trust that my genes and luck alone will make this happen. >
  
  I'm not trying but it'll probably happen anyways. >
  
  She live through everything, shit >
  
  The "World"s Oldest Person' seems to die with astonishing regularity.
  I'm starting to the the position is cursed. >
  
  Kumite claims another warrior >
  
  Why does he take them so young? >
  
  Mad, in this image she looked like my late nan’s age, and she was in her 80s >
  
  I don't think I ever want to be the oldest person in the world.
  One day my grandma said to me that she never wants to be so old that she is one of those people that is hunched over a birthday cake looking miserable while the family celebrates and they don't even know what's going on. (I don't know that this woman ever was like that) 
  And for a moment I was concerned because no one wants to hear their grandma that they are really close to say that they don't want to live as long as possible, but then I thought about it and really honestly same. 
  She's in her mid 80s right now and she can still get up and get a shower, get something to eat, hop on the bus that takes her places, get her hair cut, get a pedicure, go to the store. 
  She gets tired easy but she can live life. She watches TV, she talks to us on the phone, she bitches about her cell phone. All the things I do lol. 
  As long as she can do that stuff she's good. She just doesn't want to be one of those folks that literally can't move. >
  
  I fully agree with her if we're being honest. People sometimes get to a point in their lives, either through advanced age or chronic illness, when they decide they've lived long enough. The time I've already spent on this Earth has been a struggle for survival at points. Living to 100 years doesn't sound appealing when you remember that most people you have known have died.
  One of my fears is dementia since it runs in my family. It would be horrible if I ever got to the point where I'm not realizing that I'm pissing myself. I made my sister promise that if I ever get that bad, I want her to Ol' Yeller me. >
  
  Nah I'd rather not live to see everyone I know die >
  
  My grandmother died a few days ago.  She was 105.  Was married 72 years to my grandfather, who passed away 9 or 10 years ago >
  
  Anybody check on the whereabouts of the previously second-oldest person in the US at the time? >
  
  Meanwhile, the oldest person in the world, Lucile Randon, is 118 and lives on. >
  
  My favorite headline for this event is, "Oldest person in America is now someone else." >
  
  What did she die of, losing control of and wrecking her Corvette? >
  
  I wonder how many kids/ grand/ great / great great grandkids she has. I’m going to guess 82 >
  
  “She raised a family that grew to include five children, nine grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and 42 great-great-grandchildren.” >
  
  Must be comforting to know your legacy will endure. The only thing that could stop it would be apocalyptic war, even then if they are spread out enough in the world it would be pretty safe. >
  
  crazy to think that there is probably a 100 year old who has been wishing her dead for a while >
  
  I assume LC Quiet Pills were involved. >
  
  They say "only the good die young" so she's gotta be pretty terrible