Meet Three Centenarian Sisters: 101, 104, 110
It is a distinction to live to be 100 years old. Just ask Rose Shloss. Not only is she 101, but her sisters are 104 and 110! Three sisters, all from one family, haven’t been together in a decade.
So Rose’s Wish of a Lifetime came true when she traveled from her home at Villa of Waterside Retirement Estates, a Brookdale senior living community in Sarasota, Fla., to Bristol, R.I., to reunite with her sisters, Ruth Branum and Rubye Cox.
Ruth, who is 104, made the trip from her home in Tulsa, Okla. to Rubye’s community.
“I could not have dreamed that I would be with both of my sisters,” said Rose. “Given our ages and the fact that we live so far apart this is truly a Wish of a Lifetime. I am excited beyond words to share this time with them.”
The last time the sisters saw one another was for Rubye’s 100th birthday.
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Jeremy Bloom, the founder of Wish of a Lifetime, the three sisters and their families celebrated the reunion Friday at Rubye’s community in the seaside town of Bristol, R.I.
Rose also got to see her first great grandchild 5-month-old Leela. Rose, her three sisters and three brothers grew up on a farm in rural Oklahoma with their parents.
Life took the sisters to live in different places, but their families have always remained close even though travel and health issues have made it more difficult over the years.
[ At 104 years old, Edythe Kirchmaier has been serving others for years, 40 years of which have been as a volunteer with Direct Relief International. Read: Lighting a Candle on World’s Largest Virtual Birthday Cake ]“The odds of reaching 110 are about one in 7 million,” said Dr. Karl Pillemer, a Cornell University gerontologist. “If you add the fact that the three sisters are all currently more than 100 years old, the odds are so incredibly small that it would even be difficult to calculate them.”
“Family ties are so very important, especially when families are separated by great distance,” said Janet Shloss, Rose’s daughter. “Despite all of our technological means of communicating, nothing can replace the fundamental need to be hugged and held by a loved one. How truly remarkable that these three sisters were given the chance to one last time know the joy of being together.”
Wish of a Lifetime fosters respect and appreciation for deserving seniors by fulfilling their life-enriching Wishes.
Founded by two-time Olympic skier, World Cup gold medalist, entrepreneur, and former NFL football player Jeremy Bloom in 2008 in living honor of his grandmother, Wish of a Lifetime encourages the public to take an active role in granting Wishes through its Wish Connect program.
In the picture above: Brookdale and Wish of a Lifetime grant a Wish to Rose Shloss to see her sisters again after 10 years. From left to right: Ruth Branum, 104, of Tulsa, Okla., Rubye Cox, 110, of Bristol, R.I. and Rose Shloss, 101, of Sarasota, Fla. reunite in Rhode Island.
