In the courtyard of a low-slung convalescent hospital west of USC, Gertrude Baines was inaugurated Sunday into one of the world's most exclusive sororities.
She turned 114 years old. There was cake. Singing. Proclamations. Superlatives. Because only two other people in the world are 114. There is no one older.
A former college maid with a fondness for hats, bacon and Scripture, Baines is the third-oldest person on Earth, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which validates claims of extreme old age. A year ago she was No. 9. It's not hard to figure out what happened in the interim.
Baines, the daughter of former slaves, is the oldest person of African descent in the world, according to the group's website. The oldest person in California. The second-oldest in the United States, after Edna Parker of Indiana, who will turn 115 in two weeks. The third-oldest in the world, after Parker and Maria de Jesus of Portugal, who turned 114 in September.
So her pastor, the Rev. Warren J. Smith, wasn't much overstating the case on this bright Sunday afternoon, as a light breeze whipped a "Happy Birthday 114" balloon into Baines' face and beat her at blowing out her three stubby number-shaped candles.
"A treasure is something really special, something irreplaceable, something you wouldn't want to lose for anything," Smith told the crowd of well-wishers -- none of them related to the guest of honor. "Since this is your birthday, Mother, we want you to know how special you are. . . . We hope you have your best days ahead in your life."
Baines has outlived every known relative -- the husband she divorced decades ago, the daughter who died of typhoid at 18. Until Baines hit 107, she lived alone with the help of a caretaker. Today, home is Western Convalescent Hospital.
That's where she exercises daily in her wheelchair, watches "The Price Is Right" and -- like the 79 other validated super-centenarians who have made it to 110 or older -- serves as the canvas upon which observers paint their views of extreme longevity.
Those views do not differ all that much from what Baines thinks about how she made it this far: "Ask the Lord," she said Sunday, resplendent in a black hat with leopard trim and a bright red shawl. "I depend on him."
To Smith, the message of Baines' 114 years is simple and cautionary: "Every day with the Lord is a good day. Trust in the Lord and don't worry about anything."
