PARIS (AP) – Question: How does one put enough candles in a birthday cake for one of the oldest survivors in the world of COVID-19? Answer: With 117 candles, you cannot.
A French nun believed to be the second oldest person in the world celebrated her 117th birthday in style on Thursday, with lots of treats and good luck, cards and flowers to celebrate her exceptional longevity through two world wars and a recent coronavirus infection.
Sister André also received a mass in her honor and a party with champagne, red wine and port. Then came a nap followed by more festivities, including an afternoon snack with roasted Alaska, his favorite dessert.
“It made me very, very, very, very happy,” said the birthday girl. “Because I met all those I love and I thank the heavens for giving me. I thank God for the work they did. ”
Sister André’s big day started with a morning video call with her great-nephews and nephews, followed by a mass in her honor led by the local Catholic bishop, said David Tavella, the communications manager for the nursing home in the southern French city of Toulon, where the nun lives.
His birthday party included an entry of foie gras, followed by capon with fragrant mushrooms. “Everything washed down with red wine, because she drinks red wine. It is one of its longevity secrets, ”Tavella told the Associated Press. There was also port wine and champagne “because 117 years have to be roasted,” he said.
She skipped dessert because she was tired, but served it after a nap – with three candles and the numbers 117 on top.
Packing 117 candles would have been impossible.
“We stopped trying a long time ago,” said Tavella. “Even if we made big cakes, I’m not sure if she would have enough breath to blow them all up. You would need a fire extinguisher. “
Sister André’s birth name is Lucile Randon. Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people aged 110 and over, lists it as the second oldest living person known in the world, behind only a 118-year-old woman in Japan, Kane Tanaka.
Tavella told French media earlier this week that Sister André tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-January, but she had so few symptoms that she didn’t even realize she was infected. Its survival has made headlines in France and beyond.
“When the whole world suddenly started talking about this story, I understood that Sister André was a bit like an Olympic flame in a ‘world tour that people want to catch, because we all need a little hope at the moment, ”Tavella said.
When Tavella spoke to her on Thursday about celebrating her next birthday in 2022, she replied, “I won’t be here next year,” he quoted her, adding, “But she’s been saying this for 10 years.”
By strange coincidence, Tavella celebrated her 43rd birthday on Thursday.
“We used to joke that she and I were born on the same day,” he said. “I never tell myself that she is 117 because it is so easy to talk to her, regardless of age. Only when she talks about the First World War as if she had lived it do I realize: ‘Yes, she survived!’ “
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Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France