Amazing Auntie, Age 97

So........longevity runs in my family.

I think that is a good thing.  Probably.

Do we languish on the vine for ages and then die?

I don't think so.  I think we go kicking and screaming.  Maybe a little demented
 ( the nice ones) but a lot of us just plow on as though we know what we are doing.  Occasionally telling other people what we think of them.

Active.  We stay active.

Which brings me to Auntie.

She is one of our favorites and so my brother has flown 2000 miles to be with her on her 97th birthday.

My brother calls me.  Impressed.

(Just like another of my brothers called me on Auntie's 80th birthday.  Impressed.  Because Auntie showed the crowd she could stand on her head.  She stood on her head at age 80.)  

I am not going to tell you what I think of an 80 year old who would risk her brain and neck for the crowd!  I know she is not demented, but I certainly question her judgement.  

Hey, my own judgement has moved left of "real smart" lately.  

I am frightened.

What if I lose it and try standing on my head at age 80??

My brother, who is with my auntie as I write, is so impressed.

He is staying in her home during the visit and the upstairs bedrooms are stuffy so he asked if she had a fan he could use.

 (It is muggy back east and we here on the desert , dried out and off by the sun and hot wind, do not do well with dripping perspiration.)

Oh, sure.  There is a fan stored in the upstairs hallway closet.

A half hour later he trudges up the stairs and as he goes to the hallway closet he bumps into Auntie getting the fan for him.

He is shocked.

"Auntie, what are you doing up here?  It has only been 5 months since you got your new hip!  What are you doing?"

"I can climb the stairs!" she retorts.  "It hurts like hell, but I have a new hip.  I can climb the stairs."

My brother is shocked and impressed so he calls me to report on Amazing Auntie.

I remember asking Auntie a few years ago how she managed to be so amazing.

She said, "Well, I never feel like getting out of bed.  But I get up anyway.

I sit on a chair and I don't feel like doing anything.  I just want to sit on the chair and stare.  But I stand up anyway and make myself a little something to eat.

I want to sit back down and do nothing.  There is nothing I want to do.  But I go out to the garden anyway and garden.

There is work to be done.  I might as well make myself useful."

See how fun aging is!

Thanks for dropping in on our family dramas.

Riverwatch

PS  Do you suppose longevity is a sign of poor judgement?  

It can't be a result of excellent health!  You've read what centenarians ascribe their "living to be 100" is a result of, haven't you?   

"Oh, I quit smoking last year."  

"Oh, I never eat anything but meat."   

"Oh, I eat whatever I want."  

"Oh, I don't believe going to the doctor helps anything."  

What's Their Secret?

Scientific explanations for longevity remain elusive. Researchers studying centenarians agree: there is no specific pattern.  

There appears to be a connection between your longevity and the age your mother gave birth.   Researchers at the University of Chicago Center on Aging found that if your mother was under age 25 when you were born, your chances of reaching age 100 are twice as high as for someone whose mother was older than 25. 

. According to Israeli physician Nir Barzilai of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York:

"There is no pattern. The usual recommendations for a healthy life—not smoking, not drinking, plenty of exercise, a well-balanced diet, keeping your weight down—they apply to us average people. But not to them. Centenarians are in a class of their own."

Based on years of data from studying centenarians, Barzilai reports that when analyzing the data from his particular pool of centenarians, at age 70:  

37 % were overweight

8 % were obese

37 % were smokers for an average of 31 years

44 % reported only moderate exercise

20 % never exercised at all

Here is Riverwatch's assessment:      

The reason the ancient ones live so long is their willingness to haul out and continue being slaves!  

That's why there are more old women than old men. 

That's why men can't help thinking they are smarter than us women. 

Science still touts exercise and nutrition as key elements......theorectically.

Yet most scientists don't live to be 100 or beyond!

Look around at the "scientific effort" those ancient ones put into living long.  

NONE!  

You just see that they are people who "haul out" at some core level to continue with the slavery bit.

Even if in a wheel chair, they reach out to serve YOU the cookie, to pass YOU the glass of punch.

They are into YOU.
Good judgement.  Poor judgement.  It doesn't matter.
Your slave is still living in order to ...well, to slave.



collegehumor.com