Just think that among
the billions of souls
on earth, there really is
only one (often a woman),
born before all of us.
Take, for example,
Emma Martina Luigia Morano of Italy,
dead yesterday at 117,
the last living human born in
the 1800s.
She ate 3 eggs a day
and kicked her husband out
in 1938.
Today, Elizabeth Gathoni Koinange,
the only surviving widow
of colonial-era chief Koinange wa Mbiyu
of Kenya, assumes
the role of “World’s Oldest Person.”
She has seen six generations but
can’t recall the last time
she saw a doctor.
R.I.P., Emma (at long last)!
And I raise my coffee cup to you, Elizabeth!
as I read the morning news
and live a while longer.

(Based on a news article in the Daily Nation.)