Grandma is a Supercentenarian!

Now that my mother-in-law, Mary McGowan, has reached her 110th birthday on February 17, 2010, she is qualified to join the list of living supercentenarians. The Gerontology Research Group keeps track of these people around the world who have documented proof of their birth more than 110 years ago. Their list is updated every day. You can also see a similar list on Wikipedia.

Mary has no birth certificate since she was born at home, but she does have a baptismal certificate. In those days, babies usually were baptized within a week of their birth due to high infant mortality rates. I expect to see her added to the supercentenarian lists very soon!