Cordelia Mae Hawkins, 98, with 230 grandchildren meets her 7-week-old great-great-great-granddaughter
KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES: Cordelia Mae Hawkins, a 98-year-old Kentucky woman, met her great-great-great-granddaughter for the first time. The sweet moment was captured in a photograph where six generations were seen together in one frame. Also known as MaeDell to her family, she held the baby Zhavia Danielle while Zhavia and her mother, aunt, grandmother, and great-grandmother gathered for a visit at Hawkins' nursing home on February 19. The toddler Zhavia was seven-weeks-old when the photo was taken and is Hawkins’ second great-great-great-grandchild but first great-great-great-granddaughter.
"We just kind of planned a day and we just all met and grandma knew we were coming," said Hawkins' granddaughter Gracie Howell on 'Good Morning America.' She described how the family matriarch was keen to see everyone together. "She was excited. We had three hours with her. The baby got a little fussy. She was like, 'Here, give me that baby.' I mean, she's just a natural,'" the 58-year-old added.
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'I know it's rare for six generations'
Howell’s sister Sheryl Blessing took the photograph which captured from left to right, Howell's mother Frances Snow, Howell, Howell's daughter Jacqueline Ledford, Howell's granddaughter and Zhavia's mom Jaisline Wilson, and in the center, Hawkins holding Zhavia. "I know it's rare for six generations … it's even rarer for all of them to be the same gender," Howell explained. "We're all girls, girl power as well." She shared that ‘GMA’ her grandmother tied the knot at 16 and married twice afterward. according to ABC News.
A record 623 descendants
The 98-year-old now has a huge family, comprising 13 children and 10 stepchildren, and as per the chart created by the family, she presently has a record 623 descendants. Talking more of her grandmother, Howell added that she was told that Hawkins always used to make sure that her children get a hot meal in the morning before they leave for school and in the evenings too. She concluded, "She's had a tough life. But she's got a good spirit," Howell said. Interestingly, the oldest person in the world is also a woman, María Branyas Morera of Spain.
He is 115 years and 321 days old, as per the Guinness World Records. After French nun Lucile Randon, aka Sister Andre, died on January 17 at the age of 118, Morera has been declared the oldest living person in January, this year, reports MEAWW.