Elena Slough, 114 years old, died peacefully in her sleep yesterday in Cape May, New Jersey. She passed away just a few days after the death of her daughter, Wanda Allen, 90 years old. It is not clear whether Elena knew of her daughter’s death.

Elena remained active until approximately six years ago, with her favorite things being Frank Sinatra, ballroom dancing, and ice cream. The best evidence indicates that she was born in a log cabin in Pennsylvania on July 8, 1888, which means that she lived in three centuries and saw seven U.S. wars. Her first husband died in the influenza pandemic of 1918, and her second husband died 67 years ago. She is survived by a son, a grandson and a great-grandson.

Now that Mrs. Slough has died, the oldest Americans are two unidentified people in Ohio who each are 113 years old. The oldest documented living person in the world is Kamoto Hongo of Japan at 116 years old. Even Hongo has a way to go to beat the record of the person considered to be the longest living person on earth, Jeanne Calment of France who died in 1997 at age 122.

One has to wonder if living for 114 years is a good thing.

Ask me when I’m 113.