115 y-o, Jeralean Talley Is The Oldest Living American..... Has Some Perfectly Simple Advice Worth Following 1) Follow the Golden Rule 2) Always have a sense of humor 3) Keep active 4) But don't be afraid to occasionally indulge & more..... (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post  | by  Kate Abbey-Lambertz

Happy Birthday, Mother Talley!

Jeralean Talley is America's oldest living woman on record. And as she turns 115, we'd all do well to follow her example.

"Mother Talley," as she's sometimes called, celebrates her birthday Friday. Born in 1899, the supercentenarian has seen three centuries, and still seems to be going strong. According to the Associated Press, she's visiting the doctor Friday, but still feels healthy.

The Gerontology Research Group keeps a record of the validated longest-living people in the world. According to the GRG, Misao Okawa, who is 116 and lives in Japan, is the oldest living person. Talley is a close second.

Talley lives in Inkster, Mich. but was born Jeralean Kurtz in Montrose, Ga. She lived on a farm where she picked cotton and peanuts, according to Time. She moved to Michigan in 1935 and married her husband, Alfred Talley, in 1936. The two were together 52 years before he died. more