Womenality

TOKYO (AFP) – The world’s oldest person, Japanese woman Kama Chinen, has died a week short of her 115th birthday after a life spanning three centuries, Guinness World Records said Tuesday.

Chinen lived on Okinawa in Japan’s far south, a sub-tropical island whose inhabitants are well known for their robust health into advanced age.

“Guinness World Records is saddened to learn the news of the death of the oldest living person, Kama Chinen from Japan, who died on May 2, 2010 aged 114 years 357 days,” the organisation said.

“Though confined to a wheelchair in her later years, Chinen still enjoyed the wonders of nature and being outside.”

Chinen’s death hands the title of world’s oldest person to Eugenie Blanchard, a 114-year-old French woman living on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, according to the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Blanchard was born on February 16, 1896, the group said.

Chinen’s reign as the oldest living person began on the death of US woman Gertrude Baines, who passed away in September 2009.

Kyodo News agency, citing Japan’s health ministry, said an unidentified 114-year-old woman had died Sunday afternoon on Okinawa after being taken to hospital from a nursing home.

The woman was using a wheelchair but still enjoyed taking a walk on sunny days, the ministry said, adding that her relatives had asked for her name and personal details to be withheld.

Kyodo said Chiyono Hasegawa, 113, in southern Japan’s Saga prefecture was now the country’s oldest person.

Japan has the world’s highest life expectancy, and Okinawa has been home to many centenarians, a fact variously attributed to the healthy diet and environment of the island.

Elderly Okinawans have among the world’s lowest mortality rates from many chronic diseases of ageing, due to both genetic and lifestyle factors, according to the Okinawa Centenarian Study, a project that began in 1975.

Read the rest of the story here.

I think I received this email last year but I decided to keep a copy of it somewhere in my local drive. Today, while cleaning up some files, I discovered this again. Hence, I think that this is the best time for me to have this story posted in my blog. For those who haven’t read this story, this will surely give you great thoughts to ponder.

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things “in order,” she contacted her Pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.

She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

“There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly.

“What’s that?” came the Pastor’s reply.

“This is very important,” the young woman continued. “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.”

The Pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say.

That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the young woman asked.

“Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the Pastor.

The young woman explained. “My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming…like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful , and with substance!’

So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder “What’s with the fork?” Then I want you to tell them: “Keep your fork the best is yet to come”

The Pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had a better grasp of heaven than most. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. She KNEW that something better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the young woman’s casket and they saw the cloak she was wearing and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the Pastor heard the question, “What’s with the fork?” And over and over he smiled.

During his message, the Pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He also t old them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. He told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either.

He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, ever so gently, that the best is yet to come. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.

Show your friends how much you care. Remember to always be there for them, even when you need them more. For you never know when it may be their time to “Keep your fork.”

Cherish the time you have, and the memories you share.
Being friends with someone is not an opportunity but a sweet responsibility.

Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEN D even if it means sending back to the person who sent it to you.

And keep your fork.