Emma Faust Tillman died.  She was the oldest person on Earth, though she only held that title for four days.  115-year-old Emiliano Mercado del Toro of Puerto Rico died on January 24. 

I realize it's a tough title to hang on to for very long, but four days seems unusually brief.  Sure enough, the Guinness people say it's the shortest reign on record.  The prior record was 13 days by Mitoyo Kawate, who was 114 when she died Nov. 13, 2003, in Hiroshima, Japan.

So Emma goes down as the longevity version of Pope John Paul I. 

As long as somebody is tracking all these oldsters, it seems like there should be a perpetual trophy that the current champ gets to possess.  Or a big diamond encrusted belt, like you get when you hold a boxing title.  Seniors love bling.  Of course, when you live in a nursing home your shit is always getting ripped off, so maybe a trophy is a better idea - a big honker like the Stanley Cup that can't easily be swiped. 

Once I set up my charitable foundation, I've decided I will sponsor just such a trophy.  We'll call it the Tillman Cup. Better still, I'll name it after myself: The Rocky Cup.  I'll never be the longest-living human, but I am the Champion of Savoring Every Day.  And that's what the Rocky Cup would remind people to do. 

Anyway, with Emma Tillman's death, the new holder of the yet to be designed Rocky Cup is Yone Minagawa of Fukuoka, Japan, who is 114, born Jan. 4, 1893.   Carpe diem, Mr. Minagawa.