Each year I list the 10 longest-lived people and talked a little about new ones on the list and how it has changed. The only changes this year were Kane Tanaka moving up to 3rd place, the disqualification of American Lucy Hannah, and the addition of Lucile Randon, known by her religious name Sister Andree. She’s 10th all-time in longevity and currently the 2nd oldest living person and the oldest living European. You move up quickly on this list. If she lives another year, she will be 4th, behind Kane Tanaka.
Perhaps the most relevant current fact about Sister Andree is that she is the oldest living COVID-19 survivor. She tested positive for the virus in January of 2021, but her symptoms were so mild that she didn’t even notice. When asked if she was afraid, she said “No, I wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared to die … I’m happy to be with you, but I would wish to be somewhere else – join my big brother and my grandfather and my grandmother.”
Sister Andree, was born in Ales, France on 11 February, 1904. She worked as a governess until age 41, when she made her profession of faith and became a religious sister. Reports do not specify which religious order she is a member of, just that it is a Catholic charitable order. For 31 years she worked in a hospital in Vichy, then moved to a nursing home in Haute-Savoie for 30 years, and finally to Toulon since 2009. Randon had three brothers, and a twin sister who died as an infant. On her birthday in 2019, she said “115 years is enough, I hope the Good Lord takes me this year”.
Sister Andree is blind and uses a wheelchair, but on her 117th birthday, she enjoyed a meal of foie gras, capon with fragrant mushrooms, and red wine, followed (after a nap) with her favorite desert of baked Alaska. Sister Andree drinks red wine, and this is said to be one of the reasons for her longevity.
So I guess we learn a couple of things from Sister Andree. COVID-19 is wildly unpredictable in its effects. For some, there are no symptoms at all. For others, death. And perhaps at some point, to some anyway, death is not a frightening prospect, but is welcome. Deep things to ponder.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_people
https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/french-nun-believed-to-be-worlds-2nd-oldest-person-celebrates-117th-birthday-after-beating-covid-19/
https://www.wxii12.com/article/europe-s-oldest-person-survives-covid-19/35468162#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_French_supercentenarians#Lucile_Randon