115-year-old credits raw eggs, being single for her long life

For Emma Morano, it's obvious why she's been able to make it to 115 years old: She eats three raw eggs a day, advice she received from a doctor long ago as a teenager looking to avoid anemia, and she has been single since 1938.

Morano is the oldest living person in Europe and the fifth oldest in the world. Born Nov. 29, 1899, in Civiasco, Italy, she has a niece who serves as a caregiver and a neighbor who checks on her, but lives alone and enjoys it. She credits her longevity with ending an unhappy marriage in 1938 — 32 years before divorce became legal in Italy — and said despite being pursued by men after her separation, she never wanted to give up being single. "I didn't want to be dominated by anyone," she said.

Morano's health is so good that her doctor, Carlo Bava, told The New York Times, "If all my patients were like this, I could have spent my days reading newspapers." He visits Morano once a month just to check in on her, but has never seen her in the hospital; on the rare occasion she needed medical attention, she received stitches and blood transfusions at her apartment. Morano doesn't have much else to say about making it to this extraordinary age, merely stating, "115 years are a lot."

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