114-Year-Old Black Woman is Now the Second Oldest Person in the United States
Elizabeth Francis is an African-American woman from Houston, Texas, who recently clocked 114 years old. Not only is she the oldest person in Texas, Francis is the second-oldest living person in the entire America.
Elizabeth Francis was born in 1909 during the presidential tenure of President William Taft. This means, Francis lived through different periods of World Wars, segregation, the Spanish Flu, and Asian and Hong Kong influenza. As expected, most of Elizabeth’s memory of these events has faded.
I am sure your curiosity about Elizabeth’s lifestyle choices has left you wondering. Well, the centenarian said she likes to keep it simple. Elizabeth Francis does not indulge in alcohol or smoking. But her food choices are appropriate without compromise. Elizabeth ate directly what she grew.
Her granddaughter Ethel Harrison believes her grandma’s attention to what she puts into her body played an important role in her unusual life span. “She always grew her vegetables in the backyard. I never saw her go to a fast food restaurant much as like Chick-fil-A and all the places I liked to go. She never did that. Whenever you went to her house, I don’t care what day of the week, she was cooking. So, I just think that had a lot to do with it, too. Just how she took care of her body and things like that,” Harrison said.
With three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren, longevity seems to run in the family for Francis. Her sister lived to be 106, her daughter is now 94, and her granddaughter who serves as her caregiver is 68.
Despite the fame and widespread recognition, what truly matters to Francis and her family is not the emergence of fame but the bond they share as a family. “It’s hard to believe, but it’s a blessing.” her daughter Dorothy Williams said. “Because she has been a wonderful mother and grandmother to all of us. She has been our backbone.”
When asked about the secret to her long life, Elizabeth humbly attributes it to divine blessings. She said, “This is a blessing, the Lord’s blessing.”
